Biography
Finan Jones is a young conductor praised for his "instinctive musicality and his passion for music of different genres." He has conducted orchestras including the English Baroque Soloists, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, London Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Finan has a broad and diverse range of experience including concert work, recording sessions and opera.
In 2024 Finan was appointed Conducting Fellow of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, prompting a move to Georgia to take up the position. Having already developed a musical bond with ASO Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann during a week working together with the London Symphony Orchestra, he is looking forward to strengthening this musical understanding and learning from the Nathalie and the Orchestra.
His approach to music making is authentic, collaborative with a strong focus on allowing space for artistic expression from the musicians he works with. This approach has led him to work as assistant to many high profile conductors, including an apprenticeship with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, working as his assistant with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, English Baroque Soloists, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Philharmonia Orchestra. As an assistant conductor, work has taken him to the Wiener Musikverein, Royal Albert Hall, Köln Philharmonie, Barbican Hall, Het Concertgebouw and St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Finan has a significant interest in Opera, having conducted a performance of British Youth Opera’s new production of Rossini’s L’Occasione fa il Ladro (Opera Holland Park 2021). He was part of the original creative team which developed a new opera with support from the Barbican Centre, Sane and Sound (Milton Court Theatre 2019), for which he conducted the premiere, and was assistant conductor to Dominic Wheeler and chorus master for Lliam Paterson’s new opera The Angel Esmeralda (GSMD 2020). He was also part of the music staff for the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir’s 2023 performances of Berlioz’s Les Troyens.
Finan is a strong advocate for learning and participation projects, with a keen interest in music education. This has included education work with the Royal Albert Hall, LSO Discovery, and developing his own projects taking chamber orchestras into schools in London. Recently this included leading a session with the LSO’s pioneering East London Academy.
In the recording studio, Finan has assisted on an album of orchestral works by Jonathan Dove performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and has conducted the West European Symphony Orchestra for two recording sessions in Abbey Road studios. He is currently working with Sir John Eliot on his new Brahms Symphony cycle with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Deutsche Grammophon.