Dynamic young British-Canadian conductor Henry Kennedy has demonstrated his facility for moving seamlessly between the opera house and the concert stage with an array of international credits.

He is currently the inaugural Resident Conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) in Ottawa; has served as Resident Conductor for Poland’s Wrocław Opera; and conducted Riccardo Muti’s Orchestra Cherubini in a new production of Tosca in Puccini’s birthplace to celebrate the 2024 centenary of the composer’s death, when Corriere Fiorentino declared him to be “the revelation in this Tosca.” He has also collaborated as an assistant conductor – across multiple orchestras – with Sir Simon Rattle and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, among many other luminaries, and in 2025 was ranked by the CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, among “30 under 30” notable Canadian classical musicians.

Kennedy is especially adept at building lasting relationships with both conductors and institutions. He works in close collaboration with Music Director Alexander Shelley at the NACO and collaborated with artistic director Mariusz Kwiecień and music director Bassem Akiki at Poland’s Wrocław Opera, also leading his own programs at both institutions. In recent seasons he has been brought back to Poland for two separate productions and will return again in 2027.

In addition to Gardiner and Rattle, Kennedy has been assistant to Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and John Storgårds. He has also enjoyed mentoring relationships with Christian Thielemann and Richard Bonynge and has had an ongoing relationship with Riccardo Muti since his 2021 participation in Muti’s Italian Opera Academy.