Internationally renowned as an opera and concert conductor of distinction, Harry Bicket is especially noted for his interpretation of Baroque and Classical repertoire, and in 2007 became Artistic Director of The English Concert, one of the UK’s finest period orchestras. He is also Chief Conductor of Sante Fe Opera. Born in Liverpool, he studied at the Royal College of Music and Oxford University and is an accomplished harpsichordist.

Bicket has appeared widely with period orchestras and ensembles, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Handel and Haydn Society, as well as at festivals such as Glimmerglass, Spoleto, Aspen, Tanglewood and Santa Fe. He has enjoyed great success with leading mainstream symphony orchestras, and his programmes often showcase his gift for choral repertoire, from the great Passions, Masses and Oratorios of the Baroque and Classical eras to the works of Fauré, Elgar and Tippett.

Bicket made his Glyndebourne Festival debut in 1996 with Peter Sellars’ landmark production of Theodora and returned in 1999 and 2003. In 2004 he began his relationship with the Metropolitan Opera with an acclaimed new production of Rodelinda with Renée Fleming and David Daniels, and was immediately re-engaged for Giulio Cesare in Egitto and La clemenza di Tito. He made his debut with the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2000 and over the following seven years was a regular guest conductor there. In 2001 his first Barcelona production, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, earned him the Opera Critics Prize for best conductor. He has since returned for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ariodante and L’arbore di Diana. 2003 saw debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, conducting Partenope, and with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducting Handel’s Orlando, which received an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Opera Production.

Bicket’s large discography includes five recordings with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, including collections of Handel opera arias with Renée Fleming and Ian Bostridge.