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Principal Conductor - Craig Lawton
Craig initially studied conducting with John Traill and was the first person to be accepted on the City of Southampton Orchestra's assistant conductor scheme, allowing him to conduct in the Southampton Guildhall and Central Hall. Whilst reading music at Southampton University Craig studied under Robin Browning and was assistant conductor to the University Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonietta and ran the Concerto Orchestra.
Since graduating in 2007 Craig has led notable performances including Tchaikovsky's Fourth and Fifth Symphonies and the Poulenc Harpsichord concerto with leading British Harpsichordist Jane Chapman. Craig continues to develop his skills with conductor and broadcaster Jason Lai.
As a keen projects coordinator in March 2009 along with fellow colleagues they celebrated the bicentenary of Haydn’s death by successfully performing all 104 Symphonies in aid for Comic Relief. In the same month Craig made his debut as a soloist with the Southampton Concert Orchestra in a performance of Saint Saens Organ Symphony at Romsey Abbey, and looks forward to a repeat performance with the Charity Symphony Orchestra under the baton of former Southampton Youth Orchestra conductor Keith Smith in November at St. Mary’s Church.
In 2010 Craig begins a project with friend and Producer Christopher Taylor to record the Schumann Symphonies with the Charity Symphony Orchestra to raise money for MIND. Principal Guest Conductor - Dominic Harries
 In these posts, Dominic has been privileged to work with some outstanding soloists including 2007 Slaughter and May Musician of the Year Katie Bennington in a performance of Michael Berkeley's Oboe Concerto and renowned pianist David Owen Norris in a performance of his own piano concerto. Dominic also worked with George Holloway on the world premiere of his composition Media Vita. Last summer, Dominic had the opportunity to conduct in Prague at the Dvorak Hall, home of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. He subsequently conducted a successful week-long orchestral course for freshers new to the University of Southampton, which included a memorable performance of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Also a keen horn player, Dominic is currently in the process of starting up a horn ensemble made up of players from Southampton and the surrounding area. If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining, please get in touch! Guest Conductor - Christopher Tarrant
 Christopher has recently graduated with a degree in music from Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford and leads an extremely varied and fruitful musical life there as well as in Southampton. Further to playing the violin in the Oxford-based ensemble 'The Shelley Trio', whose recent concerts include performances of Ravel and Smetana, he recently performed in a production of Britten's 'The Turn of the Screw' with Oxford Opera Company.
His career as a conductor began on accepting the post of Music Society President at Lady Margaret Hall and founding the orchestra in October 2005. Since then, he has led the orchestra to successful performances of major works including Beethoven's 2nd Symphony and the Fauré Requiem in conjunction with the college choir. In Southampton, in cooperation with Craig Lawton, Christopher has conducted the Charity Symphony Orchestra in performances of Schubert's 8th Symphony and Sibelius's 'Pelleas and Melisande'.
As an orchestrator Christopher studied with Dr Jonathan Williams in 2006/7 and has since developed an interest in orchestrating 19th-century piano and chamber repertoire. Christopher currently holds a place to study Musical Analysis and Theory at Royal Holloway, University of London later this year.
Guest Conductor - David King
 David King was born and brought up in Eastleigh and began playing the clarinet in his teens. He joined the Royal Air Force and spent five years playing in the RAF Central Band in Uxbridge. During this time he was awarded the Cassel Prize and the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal. In 1959 he gained an A level in music and was rewarded with a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
After graduating with a diploma in Conducting as well as a degree in Music, David began his teaching career at Billingshurst School in West Sussex where he also conducted the school orchestra. Four years later, he transferred to Hampshire as a peripatetic woodwind teacher for the County Music Services.
In 1983, David, along with his partner, Elaine, took over the Directorship of the Southampton Youth Wind Band (then a disjointed group of only fourteen members) and on 12th July 1984 they performed their first official concert.
As well as teaching others and directing ensembles, David has managed to carry on his own musical career. For many years he was a professional musical theatre musician and solo recitalist, performing solos with the Northwood String Orchestra amongst others. Today he is still in demand. He is principal clarinet for Meridian Winds and has also conducted for them and other local ensembles such as Flautissimo, Winchester Chamber Orchestra and the Charity Symphony Orchestra. Every Monday, David rehearses with a small chamber wind ensemble, ‘Zephyr Winds’ in Portsmouth. They perform at weddings and other occasions.
Finally, as if that wasn’t enough, David has recently been recognised as a composer and has had several of his original pieces and arrangements of wind music published. He has found this immensely satisfying and, though he would never claim it for himself, it justifies our calling him ‘the ultimate all-round musician’.
Guest Conductor - Keith Smith  Keith Smith was born in Leicestershire, where after early success as a singer he began to study both viiolin and piano. During his school years he became a member of both the Leicestershire and National Youth Orchestras. He studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music and holds degrees in music from the Universities of Leeds and Surrey.
Following teaching posts in Leicestershire and Oxfordshire, he was appointed Conductor of Southampton Youth Orchestra, a position he held for 25 years. In addition, for many years he held prestigious conducting appointments with both Leicester Symphony Orchestra and the Leicester Philharmonic Choir. He has conducted a number of major orchestra at home and abroad and his career has taken him all over Europe and to America, Canada and China. Recent engagements have included tours to Romania, Hungary and France. Guest Conductor - Huw Llewellyn
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Conductors |