About

Tom Fetherstonhaugh is Artistic Director of Fantasia Orchestra, with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in August 2024 conducting two performances at the Royal Albert Hall. Tom founded Fantasia Orchestra in 2016, and the orchestra has developed a busy schedule at festivals and venues across the country.

As the Assistant Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra between 2022-2024, Tom conducted 70 performances including five weeks in the BSO’s main season series.

This year, Tom returns to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, and Orchestra of Opera North, and makes his debuts with the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Other recent projects include a joint concert with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Antigua and Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestra, and a concert for peace in the Korean Demilitarised Zone.

He has performed with soloists including Alena Baeva, Alim Beisembayev, Julian Bliss, Danny Driver, Jess Gillam, Thomas Gould, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Vadym Kholodenko, Tasmin Little, Jennifer Pike, Laura van der Heijden, Steven Osborne, and Maria Włoszczowska.

In the operatic repertoire, Tom has been assistant conductor for Wagner’s Der Fliegender Holländer (Opera North), Verdi's Macbeth and David Matthews' Anna (The Grange Festival), and worked on productions of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Puccini's Manon Lescaut (The Grange Festival).

Tom started his musical journey with the Suzuki method of violin playing, and was a chorister of Westminster Abbey. He trained with conductor Roland Melia, of Ilya Musin’s school. Tom read music at Merton College, Oxford, where he held organ and academic scholarships. He then studied conducting with Sian Edwards at the Royal Academy of Music where he held the Julien Award. Tom graduated in 2021 with Distinction, winning the Norma Simpson award for his contribution to the Academy and a DipRAM prize for an outstanding final performance.