Continuo Connect — Profile // Jack Gonzalez-Harding

British conductor Jack Gonzalez-Harding (b.2003) has been praised by The Spectator for his “brilliant infectious enthusiasm”. Gaining a reputation for his mature musical conviction, he is a Ryedale Festival 2024 Emerging Artist. The 2024/25 season sees Jack join the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Opera Studio. The season begins with return visits to St. John’s Smith Square (rebranded Sinfonia Smith Square), where he previously conducted Bach’s B Minor Mass and the Green Room Concerts Festival with his Barbican Sinfonia for programmes including works by, amongst others, Beethoven, Schubert and Vaughan Williams. Future plans with Barbican Sinfonia include Stravinsky’s The Rakes Progress and a Schoenberg programme. Later in the season, Jack returns to the London Mozart Players whom he has conducted in each of the past two seasons and Mayfield Festival for Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Increasingly in demand as an assistant conductor, Jack has worked with such leading artists as Sir Mark Elder, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Haydn di Trento e Bolzano for Puccini’s La Bohème and Jonathan Cohen/Arcangelo. The acclaimed soloists with whom Jack works include Nicholas Daniel OBE, Mary Bevan MBE, Dame Emma Kirkby and Fenella Humphreys. As a keyboardist, Jack has recently made debuts at the Southbank Centre, Barbican Centre and at the Wigmore Hall. Having focused intensely on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in recent years, Jack brings this period of study and performance to a close, touring Bach’s Goldberg Variations in the latter half of 2024. Jack has guest coached at the Royal Academy of Music’s junior department. Currently completing his Artist Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Carole Cerasi and James Johnstone, Jack has also studied with Pierre Hantaï in Paris. Jack has received mentorship at the Royal Opera Covent Garden from the Head of Music and is mentored by the legendary British conductor, John Carewe.