The Society is delighted to announce that our Bayreuther Stipendiat for 2020 is Tomas Leakey.
Tomas is the founder and music director of the Highland-based chamber orchestra the Mahler Players. Originally from Inverness, his first experiences of orchestral music were playing Trombone in the Highland Regional Youth Orchestra. Tomas began conducting whilst at University in Cambridge, where he was also active as a trombonist and pianist. He studied conducting initially with the late George Hurst at the Sherbome Summer School of Music and with Denise Ham in London. Tomas has taken part in many masterclasses, with highlights including the Orkney Conductors’ Course with Alexander Vedemikov/Nmwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra and International Masterclasses Berlin with Johannes Wildner/Berlin Sinfonietta. He also spent a year studying conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Tomas was the joint winner of the Orion Conductors’ Competition in 2016, which came with the position of Assistant Conductor of this orchestra for the 2016/17 season.
Applications will shortly open for the 2021 Scholarship.