Leaders
Matthew Lloyd-Wilson
Matthew Lloyd-Wilson (b. 1999) is a British musician and conductor whose work is distinguished by clarity of gesture, disciplined rehearsal technique, and a strongly collaborative approach to music-making. His developing career has been marked by rapid progression and significant international recognition. He is the youngest-ever Principal Conductor of the University of Southampton Symphony Orchestra and a recent winner of the International Hans Swarowsky Conducting Competition in Milan. This season takes Matthew to Italy, Serbia, Albania, Czechia and France.
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Matthew’s musical path began at an unusually early age. Immersed in music from childhood, he sang live on international television at the age of eleven to an audience of over two billion people, before making his BBC Proms debut at twelve and conducting his first public concert a year later. His performances have been attended by figures including the late Queen Elizabeth II, HRH King Charles III, Pope Benedict XVI, Barack Obama, and the 14th Dalai Lama. These early experiences in high-profile performance environments shaped his calm authority on the podium, efficient communication with musicians, and sensitivity to musical intention at every level of ensemble.
Alongside his conducting, Matthew has maintained an active career as a violinist. He has performed at the Royal Albert Hall with artists including YUNGBLUD, Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher, Madness, and Don Broco, contributing to fundraising efforts exceeding £2 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
A former music scholar at Winchester College, Matthew later led both the Hampshire and Surrey Youth Orchestras before becoming a professional violinist. During this period, he won five Young Musician of the Year competitions and four concerto competitions. Although trained across piano, organ, and voice, he chose to focus his professional development on violin and conducting, while also studying Mechanical Engineering at university; a discipline that continues to inform his analytical approach to score study and rehearsal planning.
Music education forms a central pillar of Matthew’s work. While at university, he became Music Director of the Guildford Youth Symphony Orchestra, transforming the ensemble into a self-sufficient charity that now provides free orchestral training to more than 200 young musicians each year. He is a professor on the National String Course, an ensembles coach at the Royal Grammar School Guildford, and an adjudicator for the Haslemere International String Competition. He maintains a close association with the RGS String Scheme and recently reprised his role as narrator in Jonathan Willcocks’ orchestral setting of How the Whale Got His Throat by Rudyard Kipling.
Liz Whittam
Liz Whittam grew up in Somerset before moving to London to study at the Royal College of Music with Jaroslav Vanecek. Her first job was principal first violin in the orchestra of Scottish Opera, and after several years in Glasgow she returned to London.
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Liz then freelanced in London with many orchestras- BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Opera Orchestra and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia to name a few and also enjoyed leading chamber opera ensembles. Liz then returned to Somerset to bring up her family and played with BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as well as performing as guest Concertmaster with local ensembles and teaching at Wells Cathedral School. She has recently returned to London and has resumed work with some of her previous ensembles and has recently been delighted to be appointed a violin teacher at Tiffin Girls School.

