Conductor and Artistic Director
Tom Fetherstonhaugh
✉ tom@fantasiaorchestra.com
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Collaborators
Conductor
Tom Fetherstonhaugh
Tom’s start in music was fortuitous, as he was lucky to be introduced to an inspiring violin teacher by his grandmother at the age of four.
At eight he became a chorister of Westminster Abbey, an experience he describes as ‘transformative’, benefitting from musical training that featured high profile occasions like singing the solo at the Royal Wedding in 2011. Tom then attended Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, a state comprehensive that champions music and the arts.
He continued with the violin, sang, played the organ, and started to explore conducting, enjoying the process of rehearsals and the ability both to make music with and to bring together large groups of people. It was in his final year at school that he saw the potential for a career in it, founding Fantasia Orchestra in 2016.
Tom now enjoys a busy career with major orchestras, including with the BBC Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland. In his rare moments of downtime he enjoys running, listening to jazz, and cooking, likening the process to conducting — it being about balance, flavour, pacing and bringing people together.
Percussion
Dame Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Glennie is the world’s premier solo percussionist. A double GRAMMY award winner and BAFTA nominee, Evelyn composes for film, theatre and television, and has recorded over 40 CDs. Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and has over 100 international awards to date. Her iconic film Touch the Sound, TED Talk and charity The Evelyn Glennie Foundation embody her life-long mission to Teach the World to Listen.
Concert highlights
Mezzo-soprano
Niamh O’Sullivan
Irish mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan is praised for her 'bewitchingly beautiful, dark vibrant voice' (SüddeutscheZeitung). A 2023-2025 BBC New Generation Artist and former studio member of the Bayerische Staatsoper, O’Sullivan has quickly established herself as one of the most exciting mezzos today.
Mezzo-soprano
Anita Monserrat
British mezzo-soprano Anita Monserrat recently won 1st prize at the 2024 SWR Junge Opernstars competition, 2nd prize at Neue Stimmen 2024 and was a semi-finalist at the 30th edition of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition. In the UK, she reached the final of both the 2023 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the 2022 Handel Singing Competition. She was a member of the Young Singer’s Project at the 2023 Salzburger Festspiele and also took part in the 2024 International Meistersinger Akademie (IMA).
Concert highlights
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Cello
Guy Johnston
Guy Johnston is a renowned British cellist, celebrated for his exceptional skill and artistry. His early successes included winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year, and significant awards, notably the Shell London Symphony Orchestra Gerald MacDonald Award, Suggia Gift Award and a Young British Classical Performer Brit Award.
Performances and recordings with eminent conductors have included collaborations with Alexander Dmitriev, Andrew Manze, Sir Andrew Davis, Daniele Gatti, Ilan Volkov, Leonard Slatkin, Mark Wigglesworth, Robin Ticciati, Sir Roger Norrington, Sakari Oramo, Vassily Sinaisky, Yan Pascal Tortelier and Yuri Simonov.
Speaker
Dame Sheila Hancock
Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock is an English actress, singer, and author. She has performed on stage in both plays and musicals in London theatres, and is also known for her roles in films and on television.
“There’s one (teacher) that sticks in my mind. One of the joys at my age is music – classical music, and there was a teacher called Miss Tudor-Craig who did musical appreciation. One day she played the Romeo and Juliet overture by Tchaikovsky and I was blown away.”
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Piano
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is already captivating audiences with her “maturity in performance and interpretation […], the former an uncanny phenomenon” (Fraser). The third of the Kanneh-Mason clan to establish herself as a soloist, Jeneba recently made her BBC Proms debut with the Chineke! Orchestra, performing the Florence Price Concerto and was heralded by the press as “demonstrating musical insight, technical acuity, and an engaging performing persona” (Music OMH).
Jeneba was a Keyboard Category Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018, winner of the Murs du Son Prize at the Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition in France, 2014, and The Nottingham Young Musician 2013. She was also winner of the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at The Royal Academy of Music, Junior Academy, where she studied with Patsy Toh.
Jeneba was named one of Classic FM’s ‘Rising Stars’ and appeared on Julian Lloyd Webber’s radio series in 2021. She has also been featured on several television and radio programmes, including Radio 3, In Tune, The BAFTAs, The Royal Variety Performance, the documentary for BBC4, Young, Gifted and Classical, and the Imagine documentary for BBC1, This House is Full of Music. She has recorded for the album, Carnival, with Decca Classics
Concert highlights
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