Conductor Jonathan Lo
About
‘Under the wonderfully assured baton of conductor Jonathan Lo… [Orchestra Victoria] play with such suppleness and control, you almost will the curtain to stay down just so you can listen harder’
The Guardian on Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet
'Unanimous praise for his light touch, the fluidity and natural music-making, and an ability to step back and let the music speak for itself.'
Weekend Special, South Africa
Jonathan Lo is Music Director & Chief Conductor of the Australian Ballet, prior to which he was Music Director of Northern Ballet, and Staff Conductor at the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, a position created for him in 2021. He was a Jette Parker Artist at the Royal Opera House, and was Conducting Fellow with Birmingham Royal Ballet and Rambert Dance Company.
For the Royal Ballet, and together with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Jonathan has conducted for live cinema relays in repertoire such as Romeo & Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty, other credits for the Company include a wide range of works from The Nutcracker, Cinderella, through modern classics by Christopher Wheeldon, Crystal Pite and Wayne McGregor, including the first revival of the latter’s Dante Project. His versatility in repertoire sees him being as comfortable and successful in Swan Lake or La Fille mal Gardee to working with some of the world’s most celebrated choreographers, with forthcoming highlights to include conducting for the world premiere of Cathy Marston’s Atonement and Christopher Wheeldon’s Oscar. Sought after by ballet companies and orchestras internationally, Jonathan is a regular guest conductor for Dutch National Ballet (including the Company’s 60th anniversary Hans van Manen Festival), Zurich Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Cape Town City Ballet, Australian Ballet, and has appeared in performances with the BBC Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Adelaide Symphony, Manchester Camerata, and the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra in China, with whom he was Principal Guest Conductor from 2015-2018.
‘Jonathan Lo and the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra brought the invention and the concept of the music clearly to life with such transparency... music making that is both technically impressive and passionately expressive.’
Musical Weekly, China
Born in 1987 in Hong Kong, Jonathan read music at the University of Oxford, before studying conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music on a major scholarship. He has held a range of music directorships since he was 18, including the New Bristol Sinfonia, the Haffner Orchestra, and was Senior Lecturer in Conducting at the Leeds College of Music.
Jonathan was Music Director of the Manchester Chamber Choir from 2015-2020, and in this role worked as chorus master for the BBC Philharmonic both at the BBC Proms and in the recording studio. In addition to the choir’s series of concerts, Jonathan also conducts them regularly for broadcasts on BBC Radios. In addition to his duties with Northern and the Royal Ballet, future highlights include a national tour Amsterdam festival of the Hans van Manen celebration with Dutch National Ballet, The Australian Ballet & Zurich Ballet.