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 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 over 50 major world premieres, highly praised cycles of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms symphonies, and operas, ballets, and multimedia productions.

Shelley appears regularly across six continents with the world’s finest soloists, including Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Thomas Hampson, Daniel Hope, Lang Lang, and Itzhak Perlman. He is a regular guest with renowned 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 São Paulo, Houston, Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto, Munich, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand symphony orchestras.

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 2025-26. The 2025-26 season marks Shelley’s 11th and final as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO). He has recently been appointed Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, beginning in 2026-27; this season, he assumes the position of Principal Conductor Designate, leading the orchestra at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Since the 2024-25 season, Shelley has been the Artistic and Music Director of Artis−Naples, in Florida, where he provides artistic leadership for the Naples Philharmonic and oversees the entire multidisciplinary arts organization. He has also served as Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2015.

Highlights of Shelley’s 2025-26 season with Pacific Symphony include concerts with Pablo Sainz-Villegas, performing Arturo Márquez’s guitar concerto Mystical and Profane; pianist Gabriela Montero, performing her Latin Concerto; violinist Aubree Oliverson, performing Korngold’s Violin Concerto; and a special program for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the U.S., with Conrad Tao performing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto.

To celebrate his 11-year tenure at NACO, Shelley leads the orchestra in a semi-staged production of Tosca, featuring soprano Ailyn Pérez; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” with Lang Lang; Joshua Bell’s The Elements, commissioned from five of today’s leading American composers; Gershwin’s Piano Concerto, with Hélène Grimaud; a Brahms and Schumann program featuring violinist James Ehnes; and the orchestra’s first-ever performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.”

With the Naples Philharmonic, season highlights include African Queens, a powerful work for soprano and orchestra by seven American composers, sung by soprano Karen Slack; Perú Negro, by Jimmy López, the composer’s homage to his Afro-Peruvian heritage; the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Raven Chacon, the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music (2022); and Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra.

Additional highlights this season include Shelley’s debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with James Ehnes giving the U.K. premiere of James Newton Howard’s Violin Concerto No. 2. He also debuts with the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, with David Fray performing Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor.

During his tenure at NACO, Shelley’s programming has been credited for turning the orchestra “almost overnight… into one of the more audacious orchestras in North America” (Maclean’s). Together they have undertaken major tours of Canada, Europe, and to Carnegie Hall. In 2025, they embarked on a monumental tour, returning to Japan for the first time in 40 years and making their Republic of Korea debut. Poema: Ad Astra, the first volume of a NACO recording project pairing Strauss tone poems with contemporary works, was released in January 2025; the second volume was released in fall 2025.

Shelley’s operatic engagements have included productions with the Royal Danish Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and Opéra National de Montpellier. His eight-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Nürnberger Symphoniker, which concluded in 2017, was hailed as a golden era for the orchestra.

Born in London to concert pianists, Shelley studied cello and conducting in Germany and gained widespread attention when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition, with the press describing him as “the most exciting and gifted young conductor to have taken this highly prestigious award.”