BIOGRAPHY
BIOGRAPHY
Felicity Cliffe is a freelance conductor, just graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music where she was awarded an MMus with Distinction and the Mortimer Furber Prize for Conducting.
This season (2025/26) sees Felicity take up two new roles as Co-Artistic Director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Training Orchestra and as a Conducting Teacher for RAF Northolt. She will also receive mentorship from Opera North as part of their Female and Non-Binary Conductor Traineeship and continue her work as Artistic Director of the Amadeus Academy, a residential course with a 30-year legacy, aimed at music students and early-career professionals.
Alongside these roles she is also looking forward to giving concerts for the first time with the Sale Chamber Orchestra, Southampton University Sinfonietta and Leeds Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra for a side-by-side concert with Opera North. She will also be returning to ensembles such as the Salford Symphony Orchestra and Blackpool Symphony Orchestra.
With a passion for engagement projects, last season Felicity was delighted to work with Chetham’s School of Music where she conducted one of their orchestras and collaborated with presenter, Linton Stephens, to perform five concerts for families and schools with live music to film with narration. She also conducted the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in four performances in different schools across Greater Manchester as part of their ‘Schools’ Tour’.
Working with both the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Felicity has assisted renowned conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, Anja Bihlmaier (at the BBC Proms 2024), Joshua Weilerstein (at the BBC Proms 2025), Ben Gernon (at the BBC Philharmonic’s ‘Augmented Orchestra’ immersive experience) and Samy Moussa. She has also been an Assistant Conductor to Agata Zając for a side-by-side project between the Hallé and students from the RNCM and to Euan Shields for a side-by side project between The Hallé and Hallé Youth Orchestra.
As well as the tuition she received from Mark Heron and Clark Rundell at the RNCM, Felicity has participated in masterclasses with orchestras such as The Manchester Camerata and The Hallé and with a range of inspiring conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Ed Gardner, Ludovic Morlot and Nico Pasquet.
In June 2025, Felicity made her debut with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a studio concert and recording of Smyth’s Overture and Intermezzo from ‘The Boatswain's Mate’ and Martinů’s Violin Concerto No.1(with soloist, Kryštof Kohout) which she reportedly approached “with unruffled skill” (theartsdesk.com).
Written September, 2025
Felicity Cliffe is a freelance conductor, just graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music where she was awarded an MMus with Distinction and the Mortimer Furber Prize for Conducting.
This season (2025/26) sees Felicity take up two new roles as Co-Artistic Director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Training Orchestra and as a Conducting Teacher for RAF Northolt. She will also receive mentorship from Opera North as part of their Female and Non-Binary Conductor Traineeship and continue her work as Artistic Director of the Amadeus Academy, a residential course with a 30-year legacy, aimed at music students and early-career professionals.
Alongside these roles she is also looking forward to giving concerts for the first time with the Sale Chamber Orchestra, Southampton University Sinfonietta and Leeds Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra for a side-by-side concert with Opera North. She will also be returning to ensembles such as the Salford Symphony Orchestra and Blackpool Symphony Orchestra.
With a passion for engagement projects, last season Felicity was delighted to work with Chetham’s School of Music where she conducted one of their orchestras and collaborated with presenter, Linton Stephens, to perform five concerts for families and schools with live music to film with narration. She also conducted the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in four performances in different schools across Greater Manchester as part of their ‘Schools’ Tour’.
Working with both the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Felicity has assisted renowned conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, Anja Bihlmaier (at the BBC Proms 2024), Joshua Weilerstein (at the BBC Proms 2025), Ben Gernon (at the BBC Philharmonic’s ‘Augmented Orchestra’ immersive experience) and Samy Moussa. She has also been an Assistant Conductor to Agata Zając for a side-by-side project between the Hallé and students from the RNCM and to Euan Shields for a side-by side project between The Hallé and Hallé Youth Orchestra.
As well as the tuition she received from Mark Heron and Clark Rundell at the RNCM, Felicity has participated in masterclasses with orchestras such as The Manchester Camerata and The Hallé and with a range of inspiring conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Ed Gardner, Ludovic Morlot and Nico Pasquet.
In June 2025, Felicity made her debut with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a studio concert and recording of Smyth’s Overture and Intermezzo from ‘The Boatswain's Mate’ and Martinů’s Violin Concerto No.1(with soloist, Kryštof Kohout) which she reportedly approached “with unruffled skill” (theartsdesk.com).
Written September, 2025