Chromatica Orchestra returns for third season at Battersea Arts Centre with newly appointed principal conductor, Oliver Cope

Oliver Cope (Photo: Amanda Protidou  / TSSO)

When Chromatica Orchestra opens its 2026/27 season at Battersea Arts Centre (its third season at the venue) they will be conducted by the young (age 27) British conductor Oliver Cope who has been appointed the orchestra's first ever principal conductor.

Cope is a First Prize winner of both the Koussevitzky International Conducting Competition and the International Athens Conducting Competition, and took a prize at the 2026 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition. He has already conducted the Hallé, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Bamberger Symphoniker, and returns to Bamberg this season for a studio recording with BR-KLASSIK.

He has conducted Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with Hampstead Garden Opera (HGO), and this summer conducted British Youth Opera in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at Battersea Arts Centre.

Cope's first concert as principal conductor with Chromatica Orchestra features Bernard Herrmann's suite from Psycho (1960), Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 (1945), and Korngold's Violin Concerto (1945) with South Korean violinist Sarang Seohyun Kim, the youngest ever winner of the Tibor Varga International Competition. Further ahead, concerts feature music by Golijov, Poulenc and Daniel Soley's Accordion Concerto with Ryan Corbett, who premiered the work, in November and then a Christmas concert in December and a family concert in February 2027.

Chromatica Emerging Conductor Tess Jackson and Leader Maren Bosma perform Carnival of the Animals at Battersea Arts Centre February 2025 (Photo: Monika Jakubowska)

Founded by Peter Manning in 2024, Chromatica Orchestra made its debut at Battersea Arts Centre. The orchestra is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of musical talent, bringing together outstanding emerging orchestral players with brilliant soloists. Players who have worked with Chromatica Orchestra have gone on to win positions with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.  

Support for young musicians runs through established partnerships with the Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST) and Bobby Moore Academy, and new collaborations with several South London music hubs. The orchestra's work in this field is centred around empowering secondary school-age musicians and giving them autonomy over their own musical experiences, with a particular focus on conducting opportunities for students from a range of backgrounds. Activities will include side-by-side opportunities, conducting workshops and coaching, family concerts, and creative composition sessions.

Full details from Chromatica Orchestra's website.