Hollywood Nights

Everyone knows the iconic ‘Sunrise’ opening of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra, used in Stanley Kubrick’s ground-breaking film 2001: A Space Odyssey.  Now hear our vast orchestral forces bring the rest of this epic work to life.  Based on a philosophical novel by Nietzsche, it deals with the forces of Nature, mankind’s struggle to control his destiny and triumph over the challenges of existence.  In the rest of the programme, we bring you much loved blockbuster film themes from Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Jurassic Park and many other Hollywood favourites.

William Birkbeck is a dynamic and versatile conductor whose recent engagements include performances with the Sofia Philharmonic, Cameristi della Scala di Milano, Franz Haydn Orchestra at the Vienna Musikverein, Bucharest Radio Chamber Orchestra, and the Brandenburger Symphoniker. He also serves as Music Director of the Holborn Symphony Orchestra in London.

Born and raised in France, William trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP), where he studied clarinet, orchestral conducting, and composition. He continued his studies in the United States, earning a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York.

Prize-winner of the Vienna International Conducting Competition and recipient of the Maurice Peress Young Conductors Award, William has collaborated with renowned contemporary composers such as Pierre Boulez, Peter Eötvös, Kaija Saariaho, and Rainer Bischof.

He has held assistant conductor roles with Orpheus Sinfonia and the Copland School orchestras and was recently a conducting fellow at the Sofia Symphonic Summit and Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice. Known for his passionate musicality and clear, engaging style, William brings energy and brilliance to every performance.