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The young British-Canadian conductor Henry Kennedy has already established strong credentials in the concert hall and opera house in both Europe and North America.  

Currently inaugural Resident Conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, he is the founder of London’s Resonate Symphony Orchestra and former resident conductor of Poland’s Wrocław Opera.  Having acted as assistant to a number of leading conductors, he has collaborated with major European orchestras, and, since graduating from London’s Royal Academy of Music, he has benefited crucially from the mentoring of Riccardo Muti, Christian Thielemann, Richard Bonynge and David Zinman. 

Honouring Puccini on the centenary of his death in November 2024, Henry conducted a new production of Tosca in Lucca, the composer’s birthplace. Further performances followed in cities across northern Italy.   Opera magazine noted “the sense of dramatic trajectory that Kennedy was able to project through the music while still keeping the tempos admirably supple,” while the Corriere Fiorentino declared that “Kennedy is the revelation in this Tosca.”

Lucca: Kennedy is the revelation in this Tosca
It was the 28-year-old Henry Kennedy … who left the strongest impression with a fluent interpretation of the score, continually revealing sonic detail, and tracing the hard-hitting drama without resorting to easy compromise.”

Francesco Ermini Polacci, Corriere Fiorentino │Tosca, Teatro del Giglio, Lucca, November 2024

“The most notable aspect of the production was the sense of dramatic trajectory that Kennedy was able to project through the music while still keeping the tempos admirably supple … Overall Kennedy achieved a compelling transparency … that allowed the modernistic aspects of the score to shine through.”

Chris Walton, Opera MagazineTosca, Teatro del Giglio, Lucca, November 2024

“Muti himself specifically recommended Henry Kennedy for this production … And he can be proud of his protégé …: economy and meaning of gesture; precision in the deployment of both orchestra and singers; eschewal of flashy effects, and careful treatment of the relationship between text and music … If any emerging conductor could be trusted to do this, then it is this young, highly motivated artist, who, in his own words, believes passionately in realising what is written in the score.”

Kirsten Liese, Onlinemerker.comTosca, Teatro Dante Alighieri, Ravenna, March 2025

“Henry Kennedy’s interpretation was crafted with great care and realised with considerable and distinctive style … a sense of style that was also very keen.”

Roberto Del Nista, L’opera Tosca ,Teatro del Giglio, Lucca, November 2024

“The musical component of the evening derived its momentum … above all from the young British conductor Henry Kennedy … The sound he drew from his players was well-defined, simultaneously sturdy and supple, almost silky in its textures, lustrous and elegant of phrase; … [His] flexibility produced fascinating rubato, while the tempi were able to linger without impeding the narrative pace. A conductor who works on these principles deserves close attention.”

Gilberto Mion, Teatro.it Tosca, Teatro Dante Alighieri, Ravenna, March 2025

“Henry Kennedy, a fine young conductor, paid great attention to the cohesiveness of the orchestra …, to the balance between stage and pit, and to the colours of the score, which absolutely demands an approach of this kind …”

Luca Fialdini, Apemusicale.it Tosca, Teatro del Giglio, Lucca, November 2024

“Each of the famous passages in the opera was given its precise due,  with a sense of inexorable and momentous drama.”

Matteo F. Camerani, Il Resto del Carlino Tosca, Teatro Dante Alighieri, Ravenna, March 2025

About

The young British-Canadian conductor Henry Kennedy has already established strong credentials in the concert hall and opera house in both Europe and North America. 

As the inaugural Resident Conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, his repertoire over his two-season tenure (2024-2026) will range from Beethoven and Sibelius to Puccini, Britten and contemporary North American works.

In October 2025, he returns to Poland’s Wrocław Opera for La bohème, having been resident conductor at the company in 2022-23. Collaborating with artistic director Mariusz Kwiecień and music director Bassem Akiki, he assisted on operas such as Le nozze di Figaro and Madama Butterfly and took charge of performances of Don Giovanni, Carmen and Les Pêcheurs de perles, which he also conducted at the Silesian Opera in Bytom.

Honouring Puccini on the centenary of his death in November 2024, Henry Kennedy conducted a new production of Tosca in Lucca, the composer’s birthplace. He subsequently toured with the production to Livorno, Pisa and Ravenna.  The Corriere Fiorentino praised Kennedy as “the revelation in this Tosca … continually revealing sonic detail, and tracing the hard-hitting drama without resorting to easy compromise,” while Opera magazine noted “the sense of dramatic trajectory that Kennedy was able to project through the music while still keeping the tempos admirably supple … [He] achieved a compelling transparency … that allowed the modernistic aspects of the score to shine through.”

Kennedy first appeared in Italy in December 2021, following his participation in the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy, which was filmed in Milan by RAI. Invited to substitute for Riccardo Muti, he conducted scenes from Verdi’s Nabucco at concerts in Rimini and Ravenna with the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, which joined him again for Tosca.

Since 2021, in Italy, Salzburg and Chicago, Riccardo Muti has acted as a mentor to Henry Kennedy for Italian opera and the central symphonic repertoire. Kennedy has also benefited from the sustained guidance of Christian Thielemann in Austro-German operatic and orchestral repertoire, and from Richard Bonynge in the interpretation of French and bel canto opera. Colin Metters (Emeritus Professor of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London), Christopher Seaman and David Zinman have similarly made a crucial contribution to his development as a conductor.

In Summer 2023, as assistant conductor to Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Henry Kennedy contributed to concert performances of Berlioz’s monumental opera Les Troyens at the Berlioz Festival in La Côte-Saint-André, Salzburg Festival, Royal Opera of Versailles, Berliner Philharmonie and the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall. In 2022 he acted as assistant conductor to Bassem Akiki for the world premiere of Philippe Boesmans’ final opera On purge bébé at La Monnaie in Brussels. In orchestral repertoire he has assumed responsibilities as assistant to Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Hannu Lintu, Sir Simon Rattle, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Thomas Søndergård and John Wilson, working with such ensembles as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Svizzera Italiana, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and London Philharmonic Orchestra.

In recent seasons Henry Kennedy has conducted a number of orchestras across Europe, including the Polish Radio Orchestra (a live broadcast of Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish’ Symphony), the Sudeten Philharmonic and Zielona Góra Philharmonic – both also in Poland – and the Brasov Philharmonic in Romania. In 2017 in London he established the Resonate Symphony Orchestra, which draws together recent graduates of leading British conservatories. Since then, as the orchestra’s music director, he has regularly conducted its players in repertoire ranging from Bach to Wagner, Bruckner and Shostakovich. In 2023 they opened the Deal Music & Arts Festival in Kent with an adventurous programme combining 18th century and contemporary music.

While studying conducting at London’s Royal Academy of Music, Kennedy was awarded the Bayreuth Festival Scholarship. Following his graduation with Distinction in 2020, he participated in the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award in Salzburg, where he conducted the Mozarteum Orchestra and Austrian Ensemble for New Music.                                           

Forthcoming >

Forthcoming

2025:

  • September: Tosca (1 performance), National Arts Centra Orchestra (NACO), Ottawa
  • September: Beethoven 7, NACO, runout concert
  • October: La Boheme (6 performances), Wroclaw Opera, Poland
  • November: EarShot readings, American Composers Orchestra/NACO

2026:

  • March: Ottawa Symphony Orchestra concert

Previous Highlights >

Contact

To contact Henry directly, please get in touch:

Or contact:

Linda Marks Classical Music Consultancy
Email: linda@lindamarks.co.uk 
Website: www.lindamarks.co.uk
Tel: +44 783 1846482

Silvana Sintow, Classicalia International Promotions & Management 
Email: sintow@classicalia-international.com
Website: www.classicalia-international.com
Tel: + 49 89 44 21 89 00

Ornella Cogliolo, Studio Cogliolo (Management in Italy)
Email: cogliolo@cogliolo.it
Website: www.cogliolo.it
Tel: +39 06 3207627