Leverhulme Conducting Fellowship

Our two-year Leverhulme Conducting Fellowship programme is for conductors on the verge of a career. The Fellowship is offered in association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Opera. The Fellowship includes a generous bursary for the successful candidate of £10,000 per year, supported by the Leverhulme Trust. In addition to this stipend, the Fellow will be offered paid work within the RCS amounting to up to £5,000. The Fellowship will commence at the beginning of the new academic year in September 2025.

The Conducting Fellow will work and study extensively with Visiting Professor of Conducting Martyn Brabbins, other Conservatoire teaching staff and visiting conductors, and with all the orchestras and ensembles within the Conservatoire. In their second year, the Fellow will act as Assistant Conductor for a specified production at Scottish Opera.

The Fellow will be enabled and encouraged to build relationships with the wide array of conductors who visit Scotland each year to work with the National companies. We regularly welcome Thomas Søndergård (Music Director of the RSNO, Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra), Ryan Wigglesworth (Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) and Stuart Stratford (Music Director of Scottish Opera) to lead classes. Other recent visiting teachers have included John Wilson, Antony Hermus, Mark Wigglesworth and James Lowe. The Fellow has access to most rehearsals at the National Companies and will act as assistant to the Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra when they are in Glasgow. The Fellow will be able to accompany the BBC SSO to its rehearsals and concerts at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival.

The Fellowship will provide a unique blend of training within the context of a supportive Conservatoire environment and extensive professional links with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera, the Hebrides Ensemble and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The aim of the Fellowship is to provide a final bridge between a young conductor’s postgraduate study and their eventual access to the profession itself.