Introducing Daniel Hogan
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Daniel Hogan as Musical director for our 70th season.
Daniel Hogan is 22 and an aspiring conductor who, as described by players in the Watford Youth Sinfonia, ‘draws emotion out of each individual player’ and ‘has a similar musical maturity to much older conductors’. He studied at the Junior Royal Academy of Music between 2011 and 2015, studying composition with Matthew Taylor, conducting with Rebecca Miller and piano with Eleanor Hodgkinson. As a composer, for his final two years there he was the winner of the Gareth Walters Composition Prize, for his ‘Sinfonietta’ and ‘Clarinet Concertino’ respectively, each receiving premieres at the Academy conducted by Matthew Taylor. His ‘Scherzo for Orchestra’ was also commissioned by the Junior Academy and premiered by the symphony orchestra. His first orchestral commission was when he was 14, receiving a premiere from the local Misbourne Symphony Orchestra, and since, his music has been played by the Aurora Orchestra (with a performance broadcast on BBC Radio 3) and in America by the Octava Chamber Orchestra. Future performances include a second hearing of his Viola Concerto in Manchester with the Northern Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Josh Quinlan and soloist Alinka Rowe, and the premiere of his percussion concerto this summer with Daniel conducting the Watford Youth Sinfonia and soloist Adam Cracknell. Daniel’s music is published by Apollo-Edition.
As a conductor, Daniel is the founder of the Watford Youth Sinfonia, a student-led orchestra who, since 2014 when he was 17, have been performing incredibly ambitious repertoire under his directorship, such as Mahler’s 9th symphony and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. With WYS, Daniel has accompanied some of the most upcoming young soloists including Isata Kanneh-Mason and Laure Chan, and worked closely with the country’s leading composers, such as David Matthews and Matthew Taylor. Daniel has just graduated with first class honours in Music from the University of York, where he was also very active as a conductor. He was the first student conductor in years to be allowed to conduct the University Symphony Orchestra, and was also music director for the Opera Society’s productions of Ravel’s ‘L’enfant et les sortileges’, and Mozart’s ‘Abduction from the Seraglio’, as well as being a regular conductor for the University’s New Music Ensemble ‘Chimera’.
This year, Daniel has been offered a place at the London Conducting Academy where he looks forward to honing his technique under the renowned teacher Denise Ham. He will also continue studying with Rebecca Miller, and is excited to be receiving guidance from internationally renowned conductors Ben Gernon and Sir Antonio Pappano, who are both major inspirations to him. Plans for the upcoming year also including the formation of a new young professionals orchestra, the ‘Sinfonia Perdita’, who are dedicated to performing neglected masterworks, and Daniel is super excited to have been elected conductor for the Orpington Symphony Orchestra, who he will lead through their 70th anniversary season.
