Biography - Michael Downes

Michael Downes is Music Director at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He read English and Music at King's College, Cambridge and completed a doctorate on the music of Debussy at the University of Sussex. He studied the cello with teachers including Ioan Davies and Timothy Mason and conducting with teachers including Lionel Friend and Colin Metters.He has worked as a conductor with numerous choral, operatic, orchestral and contemporary music groups in Sussex, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and London. He is currently the musical director of the London-based City Chorus.

Alongside his work as a conductor, Michael is active as a writer and lecturer on music. He has lectured on music and opera for institutions including the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, the Deal Festival and Ireland's Wexford Festival. He regularly reviews music books for the Times Literary Supplement and is currently writing a book on the music of Jonathan Harvey, to be published by Ashgate in 2009.