Play-Direct

Tomo Keller has been leading and directing orchestras for over 25 years. A former concert master of the Essen Philharmonic, London Symphony and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestras, he has been invited to guest lead over 30 renowned orchestras in Europe, Asia and America, including the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Berlin, Hamburg, Köln and Stuttgart, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

With his appointment as leader and director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2016, his focus has been drawn further towards directing, not just in the regular set-up of a chamber orchestra, but with Symphony and Opera orchestras as well as Youth and Festival orchestras.

In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tomo directed the PyeongChang Festival Orchestra Korea in their first ever concert without a conductor, in a celebrated performance of the Beethoven ‘Eroica’.

With the Loh-Orchestra Sondershausen in Germany (as their artist-in-residence in 2021/22), he directed over 10 concerts with symphonies by Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn, as well as works by Lutoslawski and Ehrenfellner.

In 2022 at the Grafenegg Festival in Austria, he worked with 50 young musicians, directing performances of music by Haydn, Stravinsky and Caroline Shaw.

In 2024 he directed the New Year’s Concert of the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra in Germany with works by Beethoven, Bruckner, Korngold and Schönberg, amongst others.

With the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, he has expanded the repertoire by directing more than 80 concerts over the last three years, showcasing music from five centuries, with a particular emphasis on 20th-century British composers.

Shostakovich Chamber Symphony movement 2, with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Beethoven Symphony no 3 ‘Eroica’, with the PyeongChang Festival Orchestra Korea

Haydn Symphony no 104, movement 2 Andante (extract), with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Haydn Symphony no 104, movement 4 Finale. Spiritoso (extract), with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven Andante from String Quartet op. 132, arranged for String Orchestra, with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta

Copland Appalachian Spring (extract), with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Prometheus Overture, with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Grieg: Two Nordic Dances ‘Cow-Call & Peasant Dance’ / Academy of St Martin in the Fields