Recently praised for his 'musical brilliance' (Seen and Heard International), Joe Davies is a Conductor working around the UK. He is Assistant Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, Musical Director of the UK Proms in the Park Orchestra, Canterbury Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Millennium Orchestra, Leamington Sinfonia, Solway Sinfonia, and Coventry & Warwickshire Youth Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the Cumbria Opera Group. Recent and future engagements include the National Schools' Symphony Orchestra, Oxford University Orchestra, Nottingham Symphony Orchestra, Winchester Symphony Orchestra and the City of Southampton Orchestra, while previous MD positions include Worcester Philharmonic Orchestra, Midland Concert Orchestra, and Contemporary Music East Midlands (CoMA).
In 2016, Joe founded the Cumbria Opera Group to bring world-class opera into Cumbria. His opera credits with the group include Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Acis and Galatea, Trouble in Tahiti, Dido and Aeneas, and Venus and Adonis. Joe was Artistic Director of the Cumbria Opera Festivals 2021 and 2023, involving artists such as Roderick Williams OBE and Joan Rodgers CBE. His other MD credits include Candide at the Oxford Playhouse and Mansfield Park with Cardiff Opera. Joe has conducted premieres of works by Howard Skempton, Alex Ho, and Martin Bussey, while his dedication to new music has seen him create global composition competitions for the Worcester Philharmonic and Leamington Sinfonia. Concerto collaborations include Jess Gillam, Laura van der Heijden, Emma Johnson, Xhosa Cole, Clare Hammond, and Harry Baker.
Joe graduated with a First Class Degree in Music from St Peter’s College, Oxford, where he was awarded the Paul and Fiona Geddes Award for Academic Excellence and conducted the Oxford University Chorus. He then studied Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with Distinction, where he studied under Michael Seal (Associate Conductor, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra). Joe's success at the Elgar Festival 2023 Conducting Masterclass led to invitations from Kenneth Woods to Assist projects with the English Symphony Orchestra, and Joe continues to work with this orchestra throughout the UK, becoming their permanent Assistant Conductor in June 2024.