George Morton
George Morton is the Musical Director of the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra and is Principal Conductor of the Picture House Orchestra. George made his debut with the Babylon Orchester Berlin in September 2022, and has since been invited back for multiple other performances this season. In Autumn 2022 he’ll also make his debut with the Orchestra of Opera North and the Vaasa City Orchestra (Finland). In Spring 2023, George will return to the Roma Tre Orchestra following an acclaimed debut with the orchestra in 2022. Upcoming engagements with the Picture House Orchestra include the Snowman Tour in December 2022 in major venues across the UK, and the concert premiere of a major new film release in Alexandra Palace in April 2023. With the same orchestra George conducted the Stand By for Action Concert (a celebration of Gerry Anderson) in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall (April 2022), with the concert being recorded for BluRay and CD.
Recent guest conducting engagements include the Northern Ballet Sinfonia (a studio recording), London Mozart Players, Covent Garden Sinfonia, Hallam Sinfonia and the British Symphony Orchestra.
As an arranger and orchestrator, George specialises in reducing large scale symphonic works for ensemble and chamber orchestra. His orchestrations are published by Universal Edition, Steel City Music Publishing, Boosey & Hawkes, and Schott Music and are performed extensively across the world. George’s arrangements have been described as “brilliant” by John Storgårds, “very, very cleverly done” by Sheku Kanneh–Mason and “enjoyable, idiomatic arrangements” by David Owen Norris. George was awarded ‘Best Arranger’ at the Making Music Awards 2020 for his orchestration of Clara Schumann’s Quatre Pièces Caractéristiques.
In 2021 George was commissioned to arrange Sur, a tango by Troilo, for Ksenija Sidorova, Stuart Skelton and the BBC Symphony Orchestra to be premiered at the Last Night of the Proms live on BBC One and Radio 3. In 2020 Sheku Kanneh–Mason chose George’s reduction of the Dvořák Cello Concerto for his first public performances of the work and for subsequent streamed concerts with Oxford Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Other recent commission highlights include the London Chamber Orchestra, BBC Singers, RLPO, London Mozart Players, BBC Concert Orchestra, LPO Education & Community, and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. George’s arrangements have been performed by ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Zug Sinfonietta, NOVA Filharmonija, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Juilliard Chamber Ensemble, Musikschule der Hansestadt, Mozart Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Deva, Covent Garden Sinfonia, Nova Foresta, Bath Philharmonia, Kungliga Opera Stockholm, and Camerata Innsbruck. George’s orchestrations have been broadcast on BBC One, BBC Radio 3, Rai 3 (Italy), Swiss Classical and BBC iPlayer. Eminent conductors and soloists to perform his arrangements include Sakari Oramo, Martyn Brabbins, John Storgårds, Bob Chilcott, Jess Gillam, Stuart Skelton, Sheku Kanneh–Mason, and Ksenija Sidorova.
In 2021 George established Steel City Music Publishing to prepare and publish arrangements and orchestrations of music by composers from backgrounds currently under-represented on the concert platform. He was awarded an Arts Council England / National Lottery Grant to establish the publishing house.