Richard Laing is a conductor, violinist and writer of remarkable versatility. He is sought after as a conductor of opera, ballet and orchestral concerts, and is one of the UK’s foremost choral directors. In an age of increasing specialisation, Richard is a true polymath, bringing a wide range of knowledge and influences to his music-making.
Richard is principal guest conductor of Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra, associate conductor of Chandos Symphony Orchestra and music director of Nottingham Harmonic Choir, Leicester Bach Choir, Bach Camerata and Leamington Chamber Orchestra. He regularly undertakes choral preparation for the nation’s finest orchestras. For the Hallé he has prepared Alexander Nevsky, The Music Makers, The Planets, Belshazzar’s Feast and Poulenc’s Gloria and undertaken off-stage conducting and pre-concert talks; for the BBC Symphony Orchestra has prepared Carmina Burana. He has collaborated with a diverse range of cross-over artists, including Alfie Boe, Tim Minchin and Radio 1 DJ Bobby Friction. He has premiered dozens of new works including works by Philip Sawyers, Paul Patterson, Deborah Pritchard and Bernd Redmann, and frequently leads orchestral and choral workshops around the UK. Richard is also reviews editor of The Wagner Journal, the world’s foremost publication devoted to Wagner; in this role he commissions and writes reviews of operatic productions around the world.
Prior to taking up the baton Richard studied violin and chamber music at the University of Illinois with Peter Schaffer and Michael McClelland, and violin at the Royal Northern College of Music with Richard Ireland. He is now no. 3 first violin with the English Symphony Orchestra, and a frequent guest leader with other ensembles.
Richard was the first Conducting Scholar at Birmingham Conservatoire, where after just eight months of study he was awarded his Masters Degree, a Postgraduate Diploma, and the Postgraduate Prize for the most outstanding contribution to the musical life of the college. Immediately thereafter he was supported by the Foyle Foundation to work intensively on operatic conducting at Dartington with Diego Masson, and appointed to the post of Associate Conductor with the virtuoso young ensemble Sinfonia Cymru. Richard now returns regularly to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as a competition adjudicator and external examiner, and gives masterclasses and leads workshops at several of the UK’s finest schools.
In his limited spare time Richard pursues a wide range of academic interests. While still an undergraduate, he won the Kaiser Award for American History for his work using recently declassified documents to illuminate John F. Kennedy’s policy in Vietnam. He has presented papers on subjects as diverse as apocalyptic cinema, M.C. Escher and reality TV at the International Conferences on Film and Literature at Florida State University, and on Wagner’s Ring cycle at the International Wagner Symposium at the University of Adelaide. He is now studying Astrophysics and Cosmology with The Open University.
Richard’s hobbies include collecting first editions of the novels of Daphne du Maurier and Nevil Shute, writing short stories in a rather melodramatic and overly derivative gothic style, and butchering Rachmaninov and Liszt at the piano. Despite these faults, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts in October 2022, the same month that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Among Richard’s proudest achievements are being appointed Vice President of the University of Illinois Triathlon Club and having articles published in the iconic games magazine White Dwarf. He is married to the singer and psychologist Karen Wise, Research Fellow at Guildhall School of Music and Drama; they live in Huntingdon with their daughter Elsa.