About

Tom Fetherstonhaugh is Artistic Director of Fantasia Orchestra, with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in August 2024 conducting two performances at the Royal Albert Hall. Tom founded Fantasia Orchestra in 2016, and the orchestra has developed a busy schedule at festivals and venues across the country.

In the 2025/26 season, Tom makes debuts with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, and returns to the BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and the Ulster Orchestra. Recent collaborations include with the Orchestra of Opera North, Royal Northern Sinfonia, a joint concert with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Antigua and Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestra, and a concert for peace in the Korean Demilitarised Zone.

As the Assistant Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra between 2022-2024, Tom conducted 70 performances including five weeks in the BSO’s main season series.

He has performed with soloists including Alena Baeva, Alim Beisembayev, Julian Bliss, Lucy Crowe, Jess Gillam, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Thomas Gould, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Vadym Kholodenko, Tasmin Little, Jennifer Pike, Steven Osborne, and Maria Włoszczowska.

In the operatic repertoire, Tom has been assistant conductor for Wagner’s Der Fliegender Holländer (Opera North), Bernstein's Candide (Welsh National Opera), Verdi's Macbeth and David Matthews' Anna (The Grange Festival), and worked on productions of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Puccini's Manon Lescaut (The Grange Festival).

Tom started his musical journey with the Suzuki method of violin playing, and was a chorister of Westminster Abbey. He read music at Merton College, Oxford, and studied conducting with Sian Edwards at the Royal Academy of Music. Tom graduated from the Academy with Distinction and a DipRAM prize in 2021, and was awarded Associate Honours (ARAM) in 2024 for his contribution to the music profession.