Music Director Joe Davies
Recently praised for his musical brilliance (Seen and Heard International), Joe Davies is a conductor working around the UK. He is Assistant Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra and Musical Director of the UK Proms in the Park Orchestra, with recent engagements including the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Swan, Sinfonia Smith Square, and National Schools' Symphony Orchestra.
He was appointed Conductor of the Windsor & Maidenhead Orchestra in September 2025. He is also the Artistic Director of the Cumbria Opera Group, Canterbury Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Millennium Orchestra, Leamington Sinfonia, Solway Sinfonia, London Video Game Orchestra, Cumbria Youth Orchestra, and Coventry & Warwickshire Youth Orchestra.
In 2016, Joe founded the Cumbria Opera Group to bring world-class opera into Cumbria. His opera credits with the group include The Turn of the Screw, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Acis and Galatea, Trouble in Tahiti, Dido and Aeneas, and Venus and Adonis. Joe was Artistic Director of the Cumbria Opera Festivals 2021, 2023, and 2025, involving artists such as Roderick Williams OBE and Joan Rodgers CBE. His other MD credits include Candide at the Oxford Playhouse and Mansfield Park with Cardiff Opera.
Joe has conducted premieres of works by Howard Skempton, Alex Ho, and Martin Bussey, while his dedication to new music has seen him create global composition competitions for the Worcester Philharmonic and Leamington Sinfonia. Concerto collaborations include Jess Gillam, Laura van der Heijden, Emma Johnson, Xhosa Cole, Kirill Troussov, Benedict Kloeckner, and Clare Hammond.
Graduating with a First Class Degree in Music from St Peter’s College, Oxford, where he was awarded the Paul and Fiona Geddes Award for Academic Excellence and conducted the Oxford University Chorus. He then studied Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with Distinction, where he studied under Michael Seal (Associate Conductor, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra). Joe's success at the Elgar Festival 2023 Conducting Masterclass led to invitations from Kenneth Woods to Assist projects with the English Symphony Orchestra, and Joe continues to work with this orchestra throughout the UK, becoming their permanent Assistant Conductor in June 2024.
Joe was appointed Conductor of the Windsor and Maidenhead orchestra in September 2025.
‘Mahler’s massive choral work, Symphony of a Thousand, was performed by the Leamington Sinfonia, alongside no less than eight choirs and eight world class soloists, all supremely guided by conductor Joe Davies. Ultimately, the biggest plaudits must go to conductor Davies. To see him at work is a sight to behold.’
OperaWire
Recently praised for his 'musical brilliance' (Seen and Heard International), Joe Davies is a Conductor working around the UK. He is Assistant Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2023 after success in the Elgar Festival Conducting Masterclass. Recent engagements include the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Swan, Sinfonia Smith Square, UK Proms in the Park Orchestra, and National Schools' Symphony Orchestra. He is Artistic Director of the Cumbria Opera Group, and Musical Director of Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra, Canterbury Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Millennium Orchestra, Solway Sinfonia, Cumbria Youth Orchestra, and Coventry & Warwickshire Youth Orchestra. Previous MD positions include Leamington Sinfonia (where his tenure included Mahler’s Second and Eighth Symphonies), Worcester Philharmonic Orchestra, Midland Concert Orchestra, and Contemporary Music East Midlands (CoMA), while other engagements include the Oxford University Orchestra, Nottingham Symphony Orchestra, and the City of Southampton Orchestra.
Joe's Opera credits include Carmen, The Turn of the Screw, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Acis and Galatea, Trouble in Tahiti, Dido and Aeneas, and Venus and Adonis with the Cumbria Opera Group, alongside Candide at the Oxford Playhouse and Mansfield Park with Cardiff Opera. Joe was Artistic Director of the Cumbria Opera Festivals 2021, 2023, and 2025, involving artists such as Roderick Williams OBE, Joan Rodgers CBE, and Jess Dandy. Joe has conducted premieres of works by Howard Skempton, Alex Ho, Martin Bussey, and Harry Baker, while concerto collaborations include Jess Gillam, Laura van der Heijden, Emma Johnson, Freddy Kempf, Ryan Wang, Xhosa Cole, Esther Abrami, Elly Suh, Kirill Troussov, Benedict Kloeckner, Konstantin Soukhovetski, and Clare Hammond. Joe graduated with a First Class Degree in Music from St Peter’s College, Oxford, and studied Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with Distinction, where he studied under Michael Seal. Other training includes the Serena Fenwick Programme with British Youth Opera.