Alexander Shelley

One of the foremost conductors of his generation, Alexander Shelley is “a natural communicator, both on and off the podium” (The Daily Telegraph). A passionate and articulate advocate for new music and the role of music in society, Shelley has spearheaded multiple award-winning and ground-breaking projects, unlocking creativity in the next generation and bringing symphonic music to new audiences.

With a conducting technique described as “immaculate, everything crystal clear” (Yorkshire Post) and with a “precision, distinction and beauty of gesture not seen since Lorin Maazel” (Le Devoir), Shelley is known for the integrity of his interpretations and for his creative programming, having led more than 40 major world premieres, highly praised cycles of Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms symphonies, operas, ballets, and innovative multimedia productions.

In 2024, Shelley was appointed to become Pacific Symphony’s third artistic leader, taking the title of Artistic and Music Director, beginning in the 2026-27 season. He is serving as Artistic and Music Director Designate during the 2025-26 season, which marks Pacific Symphony’s 47th season.

The 2025-26 season will be Shelley’s 11th and final as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO). In 2023, Shelley was named Artistic and Music Director at Artis—Naples, in Florida, where he provides artistic leadership to the Naples Philharmonic and oversees the entire multidisciplinary organization. He also continues as the Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he has held since 2015. He was the youngest-ever Chief Conductor of Germany’s Nürnberger Symphoniker, a position he held for eight seasons, from 2009 to 2017.

Shelley performs regularly across six continents with the world’s finest orchestras and soloists. He collaborates with leading artists, including Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Thomas Hampson, Daniel Hope, Lang Lang, and Itzhak Perlman. He is a regular guest with some of the finest orchestras of Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia, including Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Helsinki, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Malaysian, Oslo, Rotterdam, and Stockholm philharmonic orchestras and the Sao Paulo, Houston, Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto, Munich, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand symphony orchestras.

Shelley is equally at home leading symphonic, opera, and ballet repertoire as well as multi-genre projects. His operatic credentials include leading productions at the Royal Danish Opera, Opera Lyra/National Arts Centre, Canadian Opera Company/ National Arts Centre, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Opéra National de Montpellier and Opera North (Leeds).

During his tenure at NACO, Shelley’s programming has been credited for turning NAC Orchestra “almost overnight … into one of the more audacious orchestras in North America” (Maclean’s). Together they have undertaken major tours of North America, Europe, and Asia, recorded award-winning albums, and commissioned ground-breaking projects that include Life Reflected, a multimedia work celebrating Canadian female pioneers, and Encount3rs, which commissioned new ballets from top composers and choreographers.

Shelley’s experience has been highlighted by a strong commitment to education and community engagement. With NACO, he has led innovative festivals, such as SPHERE and Ideas of North, and tours that celebrated Indigenous stories and music, including a historic performance on Eskasoni First Nation Reserve. He conceived and spearheads the NAC Mentorship Program, designed to nurture the next generation of musicians, ensuring that the impact of orchestral music extends beyond the concert hall.

Shelley was also the founding artistic director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s “Future Lab,” an award-winning program that uses music and art to unlock potential in some of the most disadvantaged youth in Germany. For his engagement in bringing music and the arts to young people in Germany and for his commitment to the power of music as a force for good, Shelley was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Born in London to celebrated concert pianists Howard Shelley and Hilary Macnamara, Shelley began playing the piano as a toddler and later learned to play the cello. He gained widespread attention when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition, where he was praised as “the most exciting and gifted young conductor to have taken this highly prestigious award.”