Meet the team

Levon first conducted Rehearsal Orchestra in May 2000 and was appointed Artistic Director to succeed Harry Legge in April 2002. Levon’s first musical influence was his father, the renowned violinist Manoug Parikian.

While studying timpani and percussion at the Royal Academy of Music, Levon developed his interest in conducting, and subsequently studied privately with Michael Rose and David Parry. Following further study with George Hurst, and at his encouragement, Levon auditioned successfully for a position in Ilya Musin’s class at the St Petersburg conservatoire, gaining an insight into Musin’s rigorous technique of conducting, which has influenced generations of Russian conductors. Since his return from Russia, Levon has pursued a freelance conducting career, and is much in demand as a guest conductor with orchestras in Britain. He currently holds Principal Conductor posts with several London-based orchestras and is Principal Conductor of the City of Oxford Orchestra. He is deeply committed to training young musicians and has worked extensively with students and youth orchestras.

In 2012, Levon conducted the UK premiere of Armen Tigranian’s opera ‘Anoush’ with London Armenian Opera. In 2014 he conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra in a re-recording of the theme tune for ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ for lost episodes recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Levon conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra again, along with violinist Jack Liebeck, for ‘Raptures’, the debut orchestral album of composer Stuart Hancock, released in November 2019.

Lev has a parallel career as a writer, and his latest book ‘Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing’, published in May 2023, was shortlisted for the 2023 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.

After initial training as a violinist, Christopher was a member of the Hallé and London Philharmonic Orchestras. His conducting debut in 1973 led immediately to his appointment as Associate Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 1973–1976.

In addition to international conducting engagements, Christopher maintains a profound commitment to guest conducting with county, national and international youth orchestras where he is one of Britain’s most renowned orchestral trainers. He was Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales from 1996–2002 and appointed Principal Conductor of the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra from 1998–2004.

Christopher was Professor of Conducting at the Royal College of Music 1979–1992. He was honoured by Fellowships of the Royal College of Music in 1989 and of the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2003. Christopher Adey’s book Orchestral Performance: a Guide for Conductors and Players was published by Faber in April 1998 and reissued in 2009.

Stephen studied at the Royal College of Music under the renowned conductor Norman Del Mar, and finds himself increasingly in demand with a wide variety of European orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Hallé, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, ERT National Symphonic Orchestra (Athens), Brighton Philharmonic and Ulster Orchestras. A progressively challenging conducting schedule now affords Stephen the opportunity to conduct both in the UK and abroad.

Stephen was delighted to take up the post of Associate Conductor of the Hallé Pops in 2013 and, in 2022, Principal Guest Conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

Robert has a wealth of orchestral experience. He has played under many great conductors including Sir Georg Solti, Kurt Sanderling and Günther Herbig, but it was when he led the orchestra at the Institute of Advanced Musical Studies in Montreux under Rudolf Kempe that he was inspired to take up the baton.

Robert was for 33 years Principal Second Violin of the BBC Philharmonic and was previously co-leader of the orchestra of the Royal Ballet. He is Artistic Director of the Bolton Symphony Orchestra and also works with North Staffordshire, Chester and Shrewsbury Symphony Orchestras. His connection with the Rehearsal Orchestra goes back to the seventies when he led the orchestra under Harry Legge for many years. Robert co-conducted on the Rehearsal Orchestra’s annual Edinburgh residential course from 2001 to 2024.

Michael is a London-based conductor with a particular focus on contemporary music. He has worked with a wide range of orchestras across the UK and Europe, including the BBC Concert Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Brandenburger Symphoniker, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Orquestra Castilla y León, Lohja City Orchestra, LEAD Festival Orchestra, Orchestre national de Metz, University of Nottingham Symphony Orchestra and the Janus Ensemble, which he founded in 2015. Michael has served as assistant conductor with conductors, including Esa-Pekka Salonen and Vladimir Jurowski. His repertoire spans core symphonic works, contemporary commissions, and opera. Through his work with the Janus Ensemble, Michael has led numerous concerts, commissions, and recordings, championing new music and education projects. He is an alumnus of NEXT, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group’s professional development programme, where he worked with composers such as Brian Ferneyhough, Rebecca Saunders and Dai Fujikura.

Michael began conducting while studying Music at the University of Bristol and has trained in masterclasses with conductors including Martyn Brabbins, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Atso Almila, Hanu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Julien Leroy, Emilio Pomàrico, Johannes Schlaefli, Sian Edwards, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sir Roger Norrington. He was previously a cellist in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

A renowned violinist and conductor, Roger has been principal conductor of the Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra since 2014. His international performance experience and musical versatility have earned him invitations to conduct for various orchestras, including the Beauchamp Sinfonietta, the Guernsey Symphony Orchestra, the Helix Ensemble, and the Crendon Chamber Orchestra. He also conducts the Kammermusik Chamber Orchestra in Santa Fe, New Mexico annually.

Roger’s musical journey began at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied violin and formed the Coull Quartet. They quickly gained recognition as one of Britain’s leading string quartets. In 1977, they were appointed as the quartet-in-residence at the University of Warwick, a position they held for four decades. In addition to his work with the Quartet, Roger is a member of the Warwick Piano Trio and performs in a violin and piano duo with Lynn Arnold. He is also a respected teacher, giving masterclasses internationally, and is a regular guest at Britain’s music colleges as a teacher, examiner, and adjudicator. He was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music for his services to professional music making.

Peter Donohoe was born in Manchester in 1953 and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and in Paris. Following his unprecedented success in the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition he has developed a distinguished international career in Europe, the USA, the Far East and Australasia.

Peter formed his own orchestra in 1987 and has since been a guest conductor with several of the world’s great chamber orchestras, including the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Limberg Orchestra in the Netherlands. He was Principal Conductor of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group during its initial seasons in the early 1990s. His connections with the Rehearsal Orchestra reach back many years and he has been a frequent and welcome guest soloist.

Robert is currently Musical Director of the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Essex Symphony Orchestra, and Aylesbury Symphony Orchestra. He regularly works with Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, and made his debut with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducting a side-by-side workshop in Swansea. He is the Musical Director of Stoneleigh Youth Orchestra in London, which has enjoyed success performing in the NFMY Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and a broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the Making Music ‘Adopt a Composer’ scheme. Robert is a regular conductor of the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain, Conductor in Residence at St Albans High School, and works at the Royal College of Music Junior Department (RCMJD) where he conducts the Sinfonia and is responsible for conducting classes at the RCMJD, and teaches on the Masters Programme at the Royal College of Music, delivering a unit entitled ‘Conducting in Education’.

Born in Pembrokeshire, Robert studied at Royal Holloway, University of London before winning a scholarship, funded by the H R Taylor Trust, to the Royal College of Music where his conducting teachers were Peter Stark and Robin O’Neill. At the RCM he prepared the orchestras and acted as assistant to conductors including Lorin Maazel, Bernard Haitink and Vladimir Ashkenazy. For three years Robert was Musical Director of Nonesuch Orchestra, conducting an extensive series of outreach concerts and appearing at London festivals including the St Jude’s Proms in Hampstead. He has toured the UK with aerial theatre company Ockham’s Razor. He has also conducted Oxford University Orchestra, King’s College London Symphony Orchestra, Suffolk Sinfonia, Havant Symphony Orchestra, Kingston Philharmonia, Farnborough Symphony Orchestra, the Yorchestra Holiday Courses, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Tallis Chamber Orchestra.

Tess read music at the University of Cambridge and subsequently undertook a Masters in Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music with Sian Edwards. She is Associate Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and was Assistant Conductor at Volksoper Wien for the 23/24 season. Tess was recently featured in Classic FM’s Rising Stars list. Recent debuts include conducting Gavin Higgins’ Concerto Grosso with the National Youth Orchestra of GB and National Youth Brass Band of GB at the Royal Festival Hall and Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, as well as performances of Kander and Ebb’s “Cabaret” at Volksoper Wien.

In 2024, Tess made her debut with Garsington Opera, stepping in at short notice to conduct Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. In 2025, she assists Music Director Enrique Mazzola on the Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Beethoven’s Fidelio, returns to the Volksoper to conduct performances of West Side Story, and makes her symphonic debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Having read music at Queen’s College, Oxford, and studied at the Guildhall School of Music, Anthony went on to the London Opera Centre, where he was subsequently invited to join the staff. Anthony spent fourteen years as Head of Music at English National Opera. He was subsequently Music Advisor at ENO and Director of Opera at the Royal Academy of Music. Between 2009 and 2017, Anthony was Associate Music Director of Opera Australia.

Anthony’s work for the major British opera companies includes many seasons at Glyndebourne as Principal Coach and Assistant Conductor. He has also worked in Amsterdam, Brussels, Gothenburg, at Opera Australia for ten seasons and at Bayreuth for six seasons, where he assisted on the Barenboim/Kupfer Ring Cycle and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Tony initiated our Wagner collaboration with The Wagner Society in 2003, subsequently continued with The Mastersingers Ltd.

Timothy is a conductor, presenter, writer and educator. His career encompasses an exceptionally broad range of musical interests, and he has achieved notable recognition for his work in opera, contemporary music and education. He is Professor of Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, a regular guest conductor with the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, co-founder of the international conducting masterclasses And Other Duties and is conductor and co-creator of the Royal Albert Hall’s My Great Orchestral Adventure™ concert series.

He has appeared in the UK with the BBC Symphony, Concert, Philharmonic and Scottish Symphony Orchestras, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Hallé, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva and the Ulster Orchestra. He also has a long-standing association with the Manchester Camerata. He has conducted widely throughout Europe and the US with orchestras including the St Louis Symphony, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Oulu Sinfonia, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the Rotterdam Philharmonic and he appears every season with the Fondazione Haydn in Italy. He has held Music Director positions with the Cambridge Philharmonic (UK) and Winston-Salem Symphony (US) and is Principal Conductor of Know The Score ® (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra).

Johann is a British-American conductor who graduated with distinction in Orchestral Conducting from the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Sian Edwards and participated in masterclasses with visiting conductors Martyn Brabbins and Mark Stringer. Recently appointed Music Director of l’Orchestre Symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Johann’s guest conducting includes appearances with the Orchestre National de Bretagne,  Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Salomon Orchestra, and the Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra.

In the field of opera, Johann has also appeared at Opéra National de Paris, Opera North, Opera de Tenerife and at Glyndebourne, in Sussex and on tour. In the concert hall, Johann has appeared regularly with the San Diego Symphony and the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra. He has also conducted The Hallé, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Conservatori Superior de Música de les Illes Balears, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra and Orchestre Victor Hugo Franche-Comté. Recipient of the ASRAM Prize, Johann also participated in masterclasses and received mentorship from Daniele Gatti, Marin Alsop, Giancarlo Guerrero, Arvo Volmer, and Neil Thompson.

David was for many years Head of Music at the Royal Opera, having first begun work there as a répétiteur in 1971, following his studies at Queen’s College, Oxford, and the London Opera Centre. For the Royal Opera, David has conducted operas by Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Janáček, Strauss, Smetana, Britten and Tippett. Elsewhere, he has conducted operas by Zemlinsky, Bizet, Wagner and Britten, world premieres of smaller-scale music-theatre pieces, and worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberger Symphoniker and the London Sinfonietta.

As an accompanist, David recorded lieder with Hildegard Behrens for EMI and has also accompanied at the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Musikverein, Vienna. Other recordings include harpsichord and fortepiano continuo in Mozart and Rossini for Decca and BMG. David teaches opera at the Royal College of Music in London.

David conducted our annual Wagner course series between 2009 and 2016, returning for Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in 2019.

Peter studied at the Royal College of Music with Jaroslav Vanecek and later with Emanuel Hurwitz and David Takeno. He continued his studies in Aldeburgh at the Britten-Pears School on courses under Mstislav Rostropovich, Colin Davis & Tamás Vásáry.

He was a member of both the BBC Philharmonic & Radio Orchestras before joining the Bournemouth Sinfonietta as Sub-Principal First Violin. He later spent ten years full-time with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Now a freelance player, Peter also coaches and directs various amateur orchestras and deals in fine stringed instruments and bows.

Charlotte played in the early days of the Rehearsal Orchestra, newly formed by Harry Legge, as a teenager in Edinburgh. However, she pursued her studies in the sciences and obtained BSc and PhD degrees from Edinburgh University and UCL. She was soon persuaded that music and the violin were her true calling and, following a year of study with Sasha Lasserson in London, she won a scholarship to study for a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance at the New England Conservatory of Music in the USA.

She has been a member of many orchestras including the English Sinfonia (where Harry was Principal viola), London Festival Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, Brighton Philharmonic and Oxford Philharmonic. Teaching has always been an important part of her life, and she still runs her own private teaching practice.

Stephen studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Max Gilbert and Watson Forbes. It was Forbes who encouraged him to go to Scotland, where he became sub-principal of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. At age 25 he became principal of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It was here that he helped with the forming of ‘Cantilena’, the orchestra’s highly successful chamber group. In recognition the RAM awarded him Associateship (ARAM).

Stephen’s appetite for solo work and chamber music then took him to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, being the first appointed principal viola, in 1976. Then came London life, joining the English Chamber Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra before returning to Glasgow, by the invitation of Sir Alexander Gibson, as principal in the newly formed Scottish Opera Orchestra. In his freelancing years Levon Parikian invited him as soloist in the Walton Walton concerto, and in the following year, 2002, appointed him resident viola professional of the RO.

Léonie studied in Moscow, at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London; in 2023 she was awarded the honour ARAM, Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Léonie has been Principal Cello for Scottish Opera, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Manchester Camerata, Northern Ballet and Orchestra of the Swan, No 2 with the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia, and has deputised on Disney’s “The Lion King” since 2014.

Léonie has performed as a soloist for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, recorded at Abbey Road, played live shows with pop and rock artists including Jason Donovan, Shirley Bassey and Jeff Beck, and performed live on radio around the world as a soloist and chamber musician. Her chamber group, The Dionysus Ensemble, received a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2021; their recordings are regularly broadcast internationally including on BBC Radio 3, ABC Classic, RTÉ Lyric FM and Radio New Zealand.

Catherine has been leading the subterranean section of the Rehearsal Orchestra since 2008. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 1985. She has been a member of the English National Ballet Philharmonic Orchestra since 1990, joining as Sub-Principal Double Bass and later promoted to the Principal chair. She has also worked with ENB’s education department, taking music and ballet into schools.

Catherine also has a wide and varied freelance career playing regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Welsh National Opera and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She has performed many times with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and has regular work with many freelance organisations. Catherine is also an active teacher.