Benjamin Bayl is the Assistant Artistic Director to Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort, Assistant Conductor to Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Artistic Director of Saraband Consort and Orchestra of the City. Born in Sydney, he was the first Australian Organ Scholar of King’s College Cambridge, and then studied at the Schola Cantorum Basel, London’s National Opera Studio, and, with the assistance of a Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Scholarship, at the Royal Academy of Music.

Recent conducting engagements include Hita’s Briseida (Santiago de Compostela Festival), Haydn’s Il mondo della luna (Iford Opera), Handel’s Brockes Passion (Wratislavia Festival, Poland) and concerts with The King’s Consort, Guildford Philharmonic and the European Union Baroque Orchestra. He has conducted performances of The Little Magic Flute (Opera North), Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (British Youth Opera) and Rossini’s The Silken Ladder (Guildhall). With Orchestra of the City, he gave the European premiere of John Tavener’s Lament for Jerusalem. He has been Chorusmaster of Opera Holland Park, and regularly joins the music staff of Royal Opera Covent Garden.

Benjamin has assisted Richard Hickox (Julius Caesar, Opera Australia), Harry Bicket (Ariodante, The Fairy Queen), Harry Christophers (Semele, Hercules, Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba), Laurence Cummings (King Arthur, Aldeburgh Festival), Paul McCreesh (Creation, National Orchestra of Spain), Christian Curnyn (Saul, Opera North) and Masaaki Suzuki (Bach’s B Minor Mass). He performs on continuo with the Monteverdi Choir, the Gabrieli Consort, The King’s Consort, The Sixteen, Ex Cathedra, BBC Singers, Polyphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra.

Future conducting engagements include Orlando (Opera Australia, Melbourne), Alcina (Copenhagen), Handel cantatas with Rosemary Joshua and the Gabrieli Consort and a Hindemith recording with the Britten Sinfonia. He will also assist Paul McCreesh (Tamerlano with Placido Domingo), Ivor Bolton (Jephtha) and Trevor Pinnock on Opera Australia’s Sydney season of Orlando.

Ben was the assistant conductor and harpsichordist for Juditha Triumphans (2007) for Pinchgut.