Alice Farnham is a British conductor and author, acclaimed for incisive, imaginative music-making across symphonic, opera and ballet stages. Shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Conductor Award in 2024, she has appeared with leading orchestras and opera companies including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Opera House, Mariinsky Theatre, Opéra de Rouen Normandie and Malmö Opera.

Trained at the St Petersburg Conservatoire with the legendary pedagogue Ilya Musin, Alice is recognised for her command of large-scale repertoire, her work with singers and orchestras, and her commitment to distinctive programming. She has recently championed the music of Imogen Holst, including the album Discovering Imogen with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers, selected for Presto Music’s Top 100 Recordings of 2024.

Recent highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra at Brighton Dome and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love with English Touring Opera. In 2026, her work includes Swan Lake with Ballet Preljocaj at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, The Holsts: Father & Daughter with Sinfonia Viva at Derby Cathedral, Celestial Threads with Orchestra Victoria in Melbourne and regional Victoria, and further Holst programmes with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, reflecting Alice’s distinctive advocacy for Imogen Holst’s orchestral legacy.

She returns to the UK for concerts with Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, a new production of Tosca at West Green House Opera on 25 and 26 July, and a BBC National Open Youth Orchestra tour including Barbican Hall, Hoddinott Hall and Bristol Beacon. In autumn 2026 she conducts Philip Glass’s Waiting for the Barbarians for Nederlandse Reisopera, opening at Stadschouwburg Groningen on 26 September and touring the Netherlands.

In ballet she has collaborated with companies including The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Danish Royal Ballet, Rambert Dance Company and Ballet Preljocaj. Her opera work includes engagements with Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Malmö Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, Wermland Opera, Folkoperan Stockholm, English Touring Opera and Nederlandse Reisopera.

Alongside her conducting, Alice co-founded and is Artistic Director of Women Conductors with the Royal Philharmonic Society, and has led major conducting programmes for the National Concert Hall Dublin and Perth Symphony Orchestra. Her book In Good Hands: The Making of a Modern Conductor was published by Faber & Faber in 2023.

Alice was Organ Scholar at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and Organ Fellow at St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York.