Based in Cologne, British conductor Harry Ogg is Musikalischer Assistent des Gürzenich Orchester Köln and embarks upon his third season in the position in the 2021/22 season. Harry’s inaugural season in Cologne culminated in a last-minute step-in replacing Nicholas Collon for three subscription concerts, his performance garnering significant acclaim in the local press. He stepped in again for an opening concert of the 2020/21 season to conduct a programme with Renaud Capuçon in place of François-Xavier Roth.
Harry was awarded joint 3rd Prize at the 2020 Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg, and in 2018 was awarded 2nd Prize in the MDR Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition in Leipzig, was a finalist in the Donatella Flick competition at the Barbican in London, and was also selected for the Deutsche Dirigentenforum’s “Maestros von Morgen” list.
The current season sees Harry make his debut with SWR Sinfonieorchester, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Wuppertal Sinfoniorchester and Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse. Last season’s highlights include debuts with Dresden Philharmonie and Nürnberger Symphoniker, Harry also assisted Sir Simon Rattle with London Symphony Orchestra.
Other previous notable engagements include conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in preparation rehearsals for Edward Gardner and a recording with Leif Ove Andsnes and recording Britten’s World War Two Radio Plays with the Hallé Orchestra. Harry has also led concerts with the London Mozart Players and the Jena, Hradec Králové and North Czech Philharmonic Orchestras.
Equally at home on the operatic stage, this season Harry makes his debut at Bayerische Staatsoper assisting Ed Gardner for a production of Peter Grimes and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées assisting Karina Canellakis for Onegin.
In collaboration with the Donatella Flick-LSO Conducting Competition Harry held the position of Associate Conductor at Welsh National Opera (WNO) for the 2019/20 season. His time at WNO saw Harry lead a UK production of Carmen, conduct the WNO Orchestra in gala concerts at Saffron Hall and at home in Wales and assist Tomáš Hanus on Prokofiev’s War and Peace at the Royal Opera House. In December 2020 Harry was due to conduct the closing performance of a new production of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Oper Köln, however it was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Other operatic projects have included performances of Humperdink’s Königskinder at Theater am Revier Gelsenkirchen, Don Giovanni and Turn of the Screw at Opera Holland Park with the City of London Sinfonia, The Cunning Little Vixen with British Youth Opera, Madama Butterfly for the Aujols Music Festival in Toulouse, opera scenes with postgraduate students at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Hänsel und Gretel and Don Giovanni with Sinfonia d’Amici, an ensemble founded in 2009 and with whom he conducted over 25 concerts.
He is an lnternational Opera Awards Young Artist Bursary winner, a recipient of the Deutschland Stipendium and is grateful for support from Help Musicians UK and the Royal Society of Musicians.
Harry studied orchestral conducting with Professor Nicolás Pasquet and Professor Ekhart Wycik at the Franz Liszt Hochschule für Musik in Weimar, and previously read music at Clare College, Cambridge.
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