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Benjamin Wallfisch studied conducting in London with Sir Charles Mackerras and Vernon Handley and in Germany with Bruno Weil. He was awarded First Prize in the 2001 British Reserve Insurance Conducting Competition with a unanimous vote from both Jury and Orchestra. At the age of 22, He was appointed Associate Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra and between 2003 and 2005 was Assistant Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. During this time he assisted Vladimir Ashkenazy, Valery Gergiev, Edo de Waart and Leonard Slatkin and frequently conducted the NRPO in venues including the Concertgebouw, De Doelen Rotterdam and the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht and in numerous studio recordings. Guest conducting engagements have included the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in a series of critically acclaimed live broadcast Gala performances at the Sydney Opera House, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Other guest conducting highlights have included the Bavarian Radio Philharmonic, Weimar Staatskapelle, Hamburg Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic, Netherlands Symphony, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestra of the Beethoven Academy Krakow as part of Poland’s prestigious Beethoven Easter Festival.

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Benjamin Wallfisch studied conducting in London with Sir Charles Mackerras and Vernon Handley and in Germany with Bruno Weil. He was awarded First Prize in the 2001 British Reserve Insurance Conducting Competition with a unanimous vote from both Jury and Orchestra. At the age of 22, He was appointed Associate Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra and between 2003 and 2005 was Assistant Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. During this time he assisted Vladimir Ashkenazy, Valery Gergiev, Edo de Waart and Leonard Slatkin and frequently conducted the NRPO in venues including the Concertgebouw, De Doelen Rotterdam and the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht and in numerous studio recordings.

Guest conducting engagements have included the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in a series of critically acclaimed live broadcast Gala performances at the Sydney Opera House, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Other guest conducting highlights have included the Bavarian Radio Philharmonic, Weimar Staatskapelle, Hamburg Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic, Netherlands Symphony, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestra of the Beethoven Academy Krakow as part of Poland’s prestigious Beethoven Easter Festival. Future performances include the Bournemouth Symphony, Slovakian Philharmonic, the Israel Symphony and his debut at the Dvorak Prague Festival, conducting the Prague Philharmonia. In the US he has worked with great success with the Monterey Symphony and the North Carolina Symphony, and in 12/13 he will make his debut with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Acclaimed by The Strad as “one of the finest accompanists anywhere on the podium”, Benjamin has performed concerti with some of the world's finest soloists in including Evelyn Glennie, Pekka Kuusisto, Freddy Kempf, Dame Felicity Lott, Branford Marsalis, Igor Oistrakh, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and John Williams. Alongside a number of his own orchestral works, he has recorded Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto with Ruth Palmer and the Philharmonia, a disc of bassoon concerti with Karen Geoghegan and the Orchestra of Opera North for Chandos, and concerto recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra.

Benjamin began composing at the age of 10 and since 1996 has received over 50 commissions for the concert hall, cinema, ballet and theatre. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2006 conducting the world première of Escape Velocity; the fourth work composed under his ongoing tenure as Associate Composer of the Orchestra of St. John's. His debut CD was released by Quartz in November 2006 to great critical acclaim and he signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Edition Peters in August 2006.

Born in London in 1979 Benjamin was awarded the Master of Music degree with Distinction in composition from the Royal Academy of Music, and graduated from the Joint Course of the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester with First Class Honours. His composition teachers have included Anthony Gilbert, Michael Finnissy, James MacMillan and Robert Saxton.

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Reviews

"The youthful vehemence of Wallfisch inspired the orchestra to unusually brilliant, almost unbridled playing."

Hamburg Abendblatt

"A completely captivating performance of the Mozart "Symphony No. 41 in C Major" K.551 (Jupiter) [...] Wallfisch and the orchestra were in complete command as they brought intelligence and energy to this jewel of the symphonic literature. From the beginning, conductor and orchestra demonstrated their ability to capture the mercurial moods of the composition and its charming themes. As a masterful contrast, they brought out the delicacy of the Andante cantabile, making it sing with refinements and grace. There was polished maturity in the interpretation. Wallfisch made [the finale] into a virtuoso challenge for the players which they rose to in a triumphant, breathtaking achievement."

Nathalie Plotkin, Monterey County Herald

"Wallfisch made for a new and interesting acquaintance. Under his leadership the orchestra was not only technically assured, but worked in good harmony with the soloist [in Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor], ebbing and flowing with subtle homogeneity."

Tommie Ling, Helsingborgs Dagblad

"After the interval the Philharmonia, under the energetic direction of their young conductor, delivered a crisp and exciting performance of one of the best known works in classical music – Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 In E minor Op 96 (From the New World). This was familiar ground for the audience, with some of music’s best loved melodies, but played with a lively precision that seemed to lend it new life."

Wynn Rees, East Anglian Daily Times

"Palmer gives [Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto] a truly magnificent account, and is exceptionally well accompanied by the Philharmonia, playing at the top of its form, brilliantly conducted by Benjamin Wallfisch. Their tempos throughout are spot-on…Wallfisch begins the ‘Passacaglia’ at exactly the right tempo, and it is superbly sustained […] If I hear a greater record of Shostakovich’s music this year, I shall be astonished."

Robert Matthew-Walker, International Record Review

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Discography