Conducting
Howard Moody has a versatile career as a composer, conductor and keyboard player. He is principal conductor and artistic director of Sarum Orchestra and has also conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, Bournemouth Orchestras, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orctestra. Orchestra della Toscana, IAPS Orchestras, Opera Factory, Icelandic Opera, Netherlands Radio Chorus, Romanian State Chorus, Schola Cantorum, Salisbury Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, IAPS Orchestras, Jupiter Orchestra, Wolsey Orchestra, Emerald Ensemble, Endymion Ensemble, and numerous choral groups throughout Europe. In addition he has worked in the West End as a musical director and has also worked on the music staff of ENO and Glyndebourne. He has recorded for the BBC, Netherlands Radio, Chandos, and ECM.
It is rare to hear singers building phrases with such unanimity of purpose and structural concern but Howard Moody is clearly a motivator of rare persuasion with a strong faith in the virtues of thorough preparation.
Yorkshire Post, August 1988
Amazing voyage of a musical lifetime. To describe Ultimate Voyage as a musical journey would be a disservice, it was an amazing performance of saxophone virtuosity, John Surman seamlessly switching saxophones and his interchanging with pianist Howard Moody in the improvisation section was nothing short of brilliant. The fusion of jazz and classical as musical genres worked perfectly and the sheer joy on the faces of the musicians was infectious. Following this with Beethoven’s well known and popular fifth symphony could have been something of a let down after an electric first half but conductor Howard Moody positively lifted Beethoven’s majestic piece making it sound fresh and vibrant. Howard Moody managed to suppress the quiet pizzicato passage in the third movement before the rousing and triumphant grand finale. This was orchestral music of the highest calibre, absolutely brilliant.
Salisbury Journal, February 2003
Howard has been artistic director and principal conductor of Sarum Orchestra since its formation in 1986. It is a professional freelance orchestra based in Salisbury. Following a grant from Arts Council England it is now resident in the newly refurbished Salisbury Arts Centre. It has performed extensively in the South West of England, playing both the established orchestral repertoire and new commissions. All the orchestra’s own promotions have been set up to include generous rehearsal time, mixed programming and a flexibility that expresses what an ‘orchestra’ can become. At present it links all its main concerts with creative projects that involve new audiences, new music, improvisation and collaborations with other art forms.
Much of Howard’s other conducting work has brought this openness to other groups. The premiere performance that he conducted of John Surman’s Proverbs and Songs became an ECM recording that received a Mercury nomination. Together with John Surman and John Taylor, Howard has conducted the piece in jazz festivals throughout Europe, involving the conductor as a bridge between different genres of music. Likewise with his work with Paco Pena, bringing flamenco and the European choral tradition together. Howard conducted the Requiem Flamenca at the opening concert of the first concert series in the newly re-furbished Royal Festival Hall in September 2007.
Working with Opera Factory and David Freeman, the new piece The Snake Sheds its Skin was a commission from Habib Faye (song writer for Youssou N'Dour). As musical director Howard worked with a huge variety of musical disciplines, both vocal and instrumental, translating the music that was never written down into a coherent piece of music theatre.
His work with pop and rock singers has involved him both as an arranger and a conductor. With Marianne Faithfull and Marc Almond he has conducted and arranged for symphony orchestras, fusing the different worlds of music making.
Through the promotions by the Salisbury International Arts Festival, he has been given the first opportunities to collaborate with artists as diverse as Paco Peña (Misa Flamenca and Requiem Flamenco), John Surman (Proverbs and Songs), Abdullah Ibrahim (new choral and orchestral arrangements), Station House Opera (Salisbury Proverbs, directed by Julian Maynard-Smith), Marianne Faithfull (new arrangements of her songs).
In addition to these innovative projects, he has conducted a vast amount of the orchestral and choral repertoire. His work with the Netherlands Radio Chorus (1989–92) included three years of conducting recordings of a wide range of repertoire in addition to working as chorus master for conductors such as Robin Gritton, Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Chailley, Edo de Waart and Henry Lewis.
As music director in the West End, he conducted the run of the rock/pop musical Romeo and Juliet. This led to him being invited to be Music Supervisor on another West End show. Other work in the theatre include conducting 14 performances of Cosi fan Tutte for the Icelandic Opera. He has also been MD for two shows he wrote for the Anvil.
Recent concerts as a conductor include the opening concerts of the Salisbury and Belfast International Festivals, and the opening concert as part of the Capital of Culture events to celebrate Liverpool’s Waterfront as a world heritage site.
His work with youth orchestras included five years of annual concerts with the IAPS and NISSO orchestras at the Snape Maltings, including devised concertos with David Jackson, John Surman, Barry Guy, combining the experience of learning orchestral discipline through the classical repertoire and improvising skills.
