In the 2009/10 season Paul Watkins became the first ever Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra, following two successful years as Associate Conductor. He also took on the role of Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. He first came to public attention as a cellist but has also developed a flourishing career as a conductor, launched in 2002 when the jury unanimously awarded him first prize at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition.

Paul Watkins has conducted all the principal British orchestras including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia, and made his opera debut in 2006 with La Voix Humaine for Opera North. He has conducted the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Symphony, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Tampere Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic and is Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his Japanese debut in 2008 with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and has also conducted the Melbourne Symphony and toured Australia with the Queensland Orchestra.