Tennant Artists

Michael Seal
Conductor

Michael Seal is one of the UK’s most versatile conductors. In March 2011 he was appointed Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in recognition of his work as Assistant Conductor over the previous six years and the special relationship that has grown up between himself and the orchestra.

Michael Seal was born in London in 1970. He started learning the violin at the age of 9, going on to study at the Birmingham Conservatoire and joining the CBSO in September 1992. It was whilst at the Birmingham Conservatoire that he first started conducting, studying with Jonathan Del Mar. Since then he has had coaching and masterclasses from Sakari Oramo, Jorma Panula and Andris Nelsons.

In 1996 he conducted his first concert with the Birmingham Philharmonic, since when he has appeared with them annually. He has been Principal Conductor of the Sinfonia of Birmingham since 2002, frequently performing concerti with CBSO members and leading them on highly successful tours of the Rhine and Mosel Valleys, Tuscany, Holland and Poland. He has also worked with the Midland Concert Orchestra, Birmingham University Symphony Orchestra, CBSO Youth Orchestra and Birmingham Schools Symphony Orchestra with whom he toured the Czech Republic in 2008.

He first conducted the CBSO in 2002, becoming Assistant Conductor, the first in their history, in 2005. Since then he has conducted them in numerous highly acclaimed projects, including premières of works by Richard Causton, Jonathan Girling and Bent Sørensen, performing Lutosławski’s Chain 1 at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, appearing with them at the Aldeburgh and Malvern Festivals, recording tracks for the CBSO website, conducting them on the groundbreaking CD Rafi Resurrected and leading them during Artsfest in Centenary Square. His duties as Assistant Conductor included Schools, Family and Matinée concerts, and outside Birmingham he has appeared with them at many other venues throughout the Midlands as well as in London and Manchester. His first Subscription Concert in March 2007, with a programme including Hugh Wood’s Piano Concerto, with Joanna MacGregor as soloist, and Walton Symphony No.1, was broadcast by BBC Radio 3.

Other orchestras that Michael Seal has worked with include the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra. Recent engagements have included concerts with the Odense Symphony Orchestra and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul.