Oliver Zeffman
General Management
A conductor of "tremendous ardour and shrewd dramatic timing" (The Telegraph, 2023), Oliver is widely seen as one of today's most intrepid young musicians.
Alongside upcoming/recent concerts and recordings with the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, CBSO, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Oliver is recognised as "an entrepreneurial tour de force" (BBC Music Magazine, 2023), "with a record for getting things done" (Gramophone, 2023).
Projects he's initiated include Classical Pride - the inaugural event in 2023 was the first time any major orchestra or concert hall outside the US had celebrated Pride and was described as "achieving so much more for inclusivity in classical music than the last ten years of strategic planning by the sector." Music x Museums was a series of concerts in partnership with London museums such as the V&A, Cutty Sark and Science Museum, all filmed for Apple Music; and Eight Songs from Isolation - an opera-film comprising eight new works from several of today’s leading composers that was shot, at the height of the pandemic, right across Europe, Asia and America, and was nominated for five Opus Klassik Awards.
A firm advocate for contemporary music, Oliver has commissioned and premiered over 30 new pieces from some of the most exciting composers of today. In previous years, he gave the Russian premieres of a number of important 20th- and 21st-century works, including George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence, Birtwistle’s The Triumph of Time, Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King, Walton’s Façade and Ligeti’s Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures.
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Oliver originally studied History and Russian at Durham University and also spent a year at the St Petersburg State Conservatory.
“Oliver Zeffman is a highly talented and enterprising young conductor. His programming is adventurous and dynamic - he has performed a large amount of contemporary music alongside traditional repertoire - and he brings drive and flair to the concert platform. I am very happy to warmly recommend him and his work.”
George Benjamin
Selected reviews
“The champagne of Bernstein's Candide overture was brilliantly uncorked... Finally came Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, played with tremendous ardour and shrewd dramatic timing under Zeffman's baton.” - The Telegraph
“A crowd-pleasing finale, Zeffman's conducting of the Tchaikovsky [Romeo & Juliet] was nonetheless steeped in pathos, while the opening Bernstein (the overture to Candide) was ribald excess.” - The Times
“Zeffman has a neat and economical style of conducting that oozes meticulousness, yet allows room for emotion...”- Music OMH
“A young conductor with a record of getting things done” - Gramophone, May 2023
“...an entrepreneurial tour de force” - BBC Music Magazine, 2023
“...Zeffman's sculptural, clean-lined performance of Stravinsky's Apollo, and an account of Caroline Shaw's now-ubiquitous Entr'acte that manages to squeeze real emotion from the gaps...There's a real ebullience and sense of forward momentum to Zeffman's [Beethoven] Pastoral; a muscular, 'big-band' modern instrument reading” - Gramophone, June 2023
“The soloist could rely on the complicity of Oliver Zeffman, whose detailed, mobile and sensitive accompaniment allowed him to follow through on his intentions. From [Helen Grimes']'Virga', placed at the top of the programme, the relief and the inner abundance with which the music flourishes, show a conductor master of his subject. A leader to follow, without a shadow of a doubt!” - Concert Classic, November 2022
“...memorable, musical, and put together by someone who not only knew what he wanted but, to an extraordinary degree for his age and experience, knew how to get it.” - The Telegraph
“You only need watch the final credits to understand the scale of the ambition. The logistical feat is overshadowed by their commitment to artistry, though. Eight Songs make a collection of pieces that expand out of the confines of their format. It’s the attention to detail that sets Eight Songs apart from similar projects.The balance of uniformity and creativity... means it’s an impressively consistent end-product. One of the most creative operas we’ve seen during lockdown.” - The Cusp, reviewing 'Eight Songs from Isolation'
“A rare kind of unison… a mouthwatering, globe-spanning cast of talent… a remarkable document of these strange times that encourages us to consider the precious things that bind us. Love, friendship, connection, community, nature, music.” - Dan Cairns, The Sunday Times, reviewing 'Eight Songs from Isolation'
“The internet is already brimming with new operas specifically written for streaming… the most prestigious offering so far is 'Eight Songs from Isolation', commissioned by conductor Oliver Zeffman. The music is a cut above the competition…” - Richard Fairman, Financial Times
“Eight Songs from Isolation’ proves that remote collaborations can succeed if classical musicians abandon conventions that belong to the proscenium. …it brings a serious musical response to these times onto listeners’ screens and into their homes.” - The Economist
“The orchestra, under the baton of Oliver Zeffman, sounded transparent and weightless throughout, supplementing and colouring the story and only releasing their full force at the most important climaxes of the action.” - Mariinsky Gazette, reviewing London Chamber Orchestra performance of George Benjamin's 'Lessons in Love and Violence'
“All this was brought together under the expert baton of Oliver Zeffman (the Classical Music nominee for The Times Breakthrough Artist Award at the 2018 South Bank Sky Arts Awards). Zeffman creates a real sense of flow, sensing the work’s architecture brilliantly, allowing the strength of Rubinstein’s music to come through strongly.” - Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard International, reviewing Rubinstein's 'The Demon' with Chelsea Opera Group
“Zeffman has definitely made his mark with this show. Ambitious and expert, it won’t be long before be's making his mark on larger stages.” - Alexandra Coghlan, The ArtsDesk, reviewing performance of Benjamin's 'Written on Skin' with Melos Sinfonia
“Oliver Zeffman, still in his early 20s, once again scored an operatic success, taking on Benjamin’s meticulous, iridescent, sometimes slow-burning score with complete assurance.” - Opera Magazine review of George Benjamin's 'Written on Skin' with the Melos Sinfonia
“Zeffman revels in the score’s jagged climaxes and spine-chillingly eerie textures.” - Richard Morrison, The Times, reviewing George Benjamin's 'Written on Skin' with the Melos Sinfonia
“...conducting was the staggeringly confident and competent Oliver Zeffman - who...despite a cool demeanour on the podium is dynamite in a compact frame.” - Classical Music magazine reviewing Mozart's 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' with West Green House Opera
“...the Turkish music jangled splendidly under the baton of Oliver Zeffman...and the score emerged with captivating freshness, whether in passages of exquisite, floating delicacy or an epic Act 2 quartet that rode a wave of energy.” - Opera Magazine reviewing Mozart's 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' with West Green House Opera
“…a performance of Puccini’s opera to match what one might hear in the most exalted of houses…Try as I might I could not find anything to fault.” - Mark Berry, Seen and Heard International, reviewing performance of Puccini's 'Il tabarro' with the Melos Sinfonia
Photographs
Discography
LIVE AT THE V&A
MOZART Violin Concerto no.3 in G major K.216
PÄRT Fratres
BACH Adagio from Violin Sonata no.1 in G minor BWV 1001 and Largo from Violin Sonata no.3 in C major BWV 1005
HONEGGER Pastorale d'été H.31
Viktoria Mullova, violin
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Oliver Zeffman, conductor
Marquee TV/Platoon, June 2021
EIGHT SONGS FROM ISOLATION
New works by Thomas Adès, Freya Waley-Cohen, Huw Watkins, Julian Anderson, Ilya Demutsky, Helen Grimes, Du Yun and Nico Muhly, commissioned and conducted by Oliver Zeffman.
With Sophie Bevan, Toby Spence, Julia Bullock, Katalin Karolyi, Ricardo Gallardo, Andrei Kymach, Sarah Connolly, Shenyang, Wu Wei, Wu Man, Iestyn Davies and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
Apple Music, September 2020
THE UNANSWERED QUESTION
IVES The Unanswered Question
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
Oliver Zeffman, conductor
Ozero Records, April 2022