Felicity Cliffe is currently studying for a Master’s Degree in conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Mark Heron and Clark Rundell. So far, Felicity has already participated in Masterclasses with The Hallé Orchestra and Mark Heron and with musicians from the RNCM and Nicolas Pasquet, John Storgårds and Antony Hermus. She has also assisted renowned conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, John Storgårds, Samy Moussa and Anja Bihlmaier with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and given concerts with the Salford Symphony Orchestra, Leeds Haydn Players and Blackpool Symphony Orchestra.

This summer, after several years as assistant conductor, Felicity was appointed Principal Conductor and Director of the Amadeus Academy; a popular summer orchestral course with a thirty year legacy.

Before moving to Manchester, Felicity was based in London and was active freelancer. She was recently Musical Director of the new opera, ‘Minutes to Midnight’ by John Sturt and Sophia Chapadjiev, as part of the Tête-á-Tête Festival and was assistant conductor to Olivia Clarke with the Southbank Sinfonia, working on a programme of works by British composers. Felicity was the Music Director of the Hayes Symphony Orchestra and Beckenham Concert Band and as her reputation for working with community groups continued to grow she was frequently asked to work with other ensembles.

Also with the community in mind, Felicity enjoyed organising her own orchestral projects. Under the name of ‘Orchestra Nouveau’ she gave several performances, ranging from a large scale programme of symphonic works, including Saint-Saens’ ‘Organ Symphony’, to regular chamber orchestra concerts as part of the recital series at St George’s Church, Beckenham. In 2022, Felicity organised and conducted a concert series in Islington under the name of ‘The Orchestra of St. Clement’s’ which focused on core repertoire and provided free concerts for the local community.

Felicity was a participant on the Sorrell Women’s Conducting Programme with Sian Edwards at the Royal Academy of Music and on a course with Toby Purser, James Henshaw and the Orion Orchestra at the Aberystwyth MusicFest in 2019. She has also taken part in masterclasses with the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Richard Hetherington and Paul Wynne Griffiths on excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’ and, in 2023, she was a student at the Dartington Summer School where she had the chance to study with Alice Farnham once more and perform with the Dartington Festival Orchestra.

Felicity would like to thank The Headley Trust for generously supporting her studies this year.

Written, September 2024.