Conductor: James Slater

James Slater began his musical training as a chorister at the London Oratory and then as a music scholar at the Purcell School of Music where he studied with the Hungarian violinist Eszta Boda Katona.  He was then awarded a scholarship to attend the Royal College of Music, where he studied violin, piano and conducting, before completing a degree and then an M.Phil. in Musicology at King’s College, Cambridge.

James has performed extensively in the UK and abroad with some of the world’s greatest conductors and performers, including Valery Gergiev, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Mark Elder.

Since moving to Wales in April 2005, James has established strong regional links with several amateur and professional orchestras.   He is currently principal conductor of the Brecknock Sinfonia and the Marches Chamber Choir, joint principal conductor of the Hereford String Orchestra and guest conductor of the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra and the Tregwynt Chamber Orchestra.