Benjamin Northey is an Australian conductor, musician and arranger. He has been Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand since 2015.[1] He is also the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor - Learning and Engagement of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra having previously been Principal Conductor in Residence from 2020-2023. He was previously the Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2010-2019.[2] He is also the Artistic Director Designate of the Australian Conducting Academy, a national training program for Australian and New Zealand Conductors which he will commence in 2025.
Early life and family
Northey was born and raised in Ballarat, Victoria. His father Robert (Bob) Northey is a retired university administrator and former president of the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra and his mother Wendy is a forensic psychologist and pianist.[3][4] His uncle is the retired AFL football player and coach John Northey.[5]
He attended Ballarat Clarendon College where he studied flute, clarinet and saxophone with Barry Currie and arranging with Graeme Vendy,[6] and where his skills as a saxophonist, clarinettist and flautist were first developed; in his early years he also played piano, trumpet and violin.[7][8] At 12, he won prizes in Ballarat's Royal South Street Eisteddfod for performances on flute and saxophone.[6] During his teenage years he began working professionally in local pit orchestras in Ballarat for musical theatre and operetta productions. After school he moved to Melbourne, where he worked as a freelance musician, composer and arranger for close to ten years.[8] During this time he was an active recording session musician and also performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Pops Orchestra and the Australian Showband. He appeared as a soloist with the Australian Wind Orchestra on their tour of Japan and Hong Kong in 1990. In 1998 he toured Australia and the United States as keyboardist and saxophonist with guitarist Tommy Emmanuel.
Training
In 1996 Northey commenced performance studies in classical saxophone at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, graduating in 1999 with First Class Honours.[12] It was only in the final year of his degree, at age 29, that he turned to conducting. This occurred under the mentorship of John Hopkins, who encouraged him to be the first candidate for his new Master of Music in Conducting degree at the Victorian College of the Arts and Music.[13] He graduated in 2002.[14][15]
In 2001 he won the Nelly Apt Scholarship for study in Israel.[18] The same year he won the Symphony Australia Young Conductor of the year competition, marking the first time the two most prestigious Australian conducting prizes had been won by the same person in the same year.[19] Part of the prize for the latter award was the opportunity to study in Sydney with Jorma Panula, under the aegis of the Symphony Australia Conductor Development Program.[20]
In 2002 he was the highest placed applicant to the Orchestral Conducting Course at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. He studied there for three years under Leif Segerstam and Atso Almila.[21] In 2004 his diploma concert with the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra was awarded the international jury's highest possible mark. The program included the European premiere of Brett Dean's Amphitheatre.[22] He completed his tertiary studies in 2006 as a guest student in Jorma Panula's class at Sweden's Royal College of Music, Stockholm.[10][16]
In 2011 he was appointed Associate Conductor of the MSO (officially the Patricia Riordan Associate Conductor Chair) In 2017 the position was extended to the end of the 2017 season.[27] This position was created especially for Northey, and is the only associate conductor position in any Australian state orchestra.[28] In 2012 he was a last-minute replacement when Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles fell ill before an MSO Master Series concert, which included Mahler's 4th Symphony and Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 performed by Julian Rachlin.[26] He now conducts the popular MSO Town Hall concert series.[29]
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.