James Hendry

Conductor

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First Kappelmeister / Erster Kapellmeister at Staatsoper Hannover
Honorary Associate Artist, Royal Northern College of Music

With his appointment as First Kapellmeister of the Staatstheater Hannover, James Hendry has consolidated his place at the forefront of young British conductors. His first two seasons in Hannover feature productions of Carmen, Don Giovanni, Sweeney Todd, Eugene Onegin, Rigoletto and L’Elisir d’Amore. His debut with Oper Frankfurt (programmed as Don Pasquale but cancelled due to the pandemic) is planned for 2022/23, whilst recent guest engagements include Lucia di Lammermoor for English National Opera, The Marriage of Figaro for Opera North, and concert performances with the Southbank Sinfonia, Orchestra of Opera North and Hull Philharmonic Orchestra.

He was a member of the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden which he joined from the 2016/17 season as conductor and répétiteur. Engagements during his time there included conducting Oreste and La Tragédie de Carmen as well as the Young Artists’ Summer Performances, whilst also working on Der Rosenkavalier, Adriana Lecouvreur, Madama Butterfly, Otello, Hänsel und Gretel and Turandot, amongst many other titles.

Hendry grew up in Kingston upon Hull and was one of the first students to be accepted onto the Yorkshire Young Musicians programme. He went on to study piano with Helen Krizos at the Royal Northern College of Music and as a répétiteur with Kevin Thraves at the RNCM’s Vocal Studies department. His awards include the National Award medal at the British Education Awards. He has worked regularly with the Hallé choral team, engagements including working as Assistant Director of the Hallé Youth Choir, helping to prepare the choruses for the Hallé’s performance of Vaughan Williams’s Sancta Civitas at the BBC Proms and working as vocal coach and accompanist for the Hallé Choir Academy. He has an ongoing association with the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, for which he has conducted all the main G&S titles including The Mikado, HMS Pinafore and The Gondoliers.

HarrisonParrott represents James Hendy for worldwide general management.

“On this night I saw the assistant conductor, James Hendry, who mastered this whirlwind opera creating vibrant orchestral passages and sensitive moments with the singers too.”

(Olivia Rose Tringham, March 2020, Opera North)

“The ensemble finished off with the finale from Falstaff and again the star was in the pit – James Hendry conducted with accomplished zest, thrillingly allowing these young singers to emerge triumphant from this experience.”

(Louise Flind, Rhinegold.com, July 2019)

“From Rossini’s Le comte Ory, too, though there was real promise in the crisp musical guidance of another Jette Parker Young Artist, repetiteur and conductor James Hendry.”

(David Nice, July 2017, The Arts Desk)