Martyn Brabbins is Music Director of the English National Opera. An inspirational force in British music, Brabbins has had a busy opera career, from his early days at the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Theatre to more recent engagements at La Scala and the Bayerische Staatsoper, in addition to regular work at the opera houses of Lyon, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Antwerp. He appears as guest conductor with top international orchestras, such as the Royal Concertgebouw, San Francisco Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, as well as the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony and most of the other leading UK orchestras.

Brabbins is a popular figure at the BBC Proms, which in 2019 commissioned fourteen contemporary composers to write a birthday tribute to him. Known in particular for his advocacy of British composers, he has conducted hundreds of premieres across the globe. To date, Brabbins has recorded nearly 150 albums, including prize-winning discs of operas by Korngold, Birtwistle and Harvey.

He was Associate Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (1994-2005), Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (2009-2015), Chief Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic (2012-2016), and Artistic Director of the Cheltenham International Festival of Music (2005-2007). Alongside his duties at the ENO, Brabbins holds the positions of Prince Consort Professor of Conducting at London’s Royal College of Music, Visiting Professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Artistic Advisor to the Huddersfield Choral Society. For many years he has supported professional, student and amateur music-making at the highest level in the UK.