Thomas Kemp

Conductor

At a glance

Thomas Kemp

Conductor

An extraordinary event that came over brilliantly under the baton of Thomas Kemp
The Guardian

Champion of British repertoire and contemporary composers, Thomas Kemp, Music Director of Chamber Domaine, is an acclaimed conductor and artistic director renowned for his passionate advocacy and ground breaking programming that places contemporary music into its historical context.

Biography —

Thomas Kemp is an acclaimed conductor and artistic director renowned for his passionate advocacy and ground breaking programming that places contemporary music into its historical context.

Thomas is regularly in demand as a guest conductor in the UK and Europe. Recent and forthcoming engagements include concerts with BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Fretwork, London Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Thomas is the Music Director of Chamber Domaine, which is at the forefront of ensembles focusing on 20th and 21st century music. He regularly conducts Chamber Domaine in festivals and concert series in the UK, Europe and North America. In 2022, the ensemble received five star reviews in the national press for Six Brandenburgs: Six Commissions – giving world premieres of new works by Brian Elias, Michael Price, Deborah Pritchard, Daniel Kidane, Joseph Phibbs and Stevie Wishart alongside the Brandenburg Concertos.

The Artsdesk described the concerts as “metaphysical brilliance…a colossal achievement made up of seemingly effortless and joyous playing meeting with an equally joyous audience response.” The Observer described the performances as “superbly performed.” Musical Opinion praised the concerts as “a true continuation of the energising, restorative effect of Bach’s music, crisply and spontaneously rendered by members of Chamber Domaine under Thomas Kemp’s alert direction.”

2025 features performances with London Sinfonietta at Southbank Centre, Chamber Domaine at Wigmore Hall, and The Soldier’s Tale with Charles Dance and Chamber Domaine at Oxford International Song Festival. Kemp will also record Six Brandeburgs: Six Commissions with Resonus Classics due for release in 2026.

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Reviews —

The players conducted by Thomas Kemp capture its fragile essence perfectly…The performances are full of exuberance…

The Guardian

Thomas Kemp strongly projected the solemnity that permeates here, reinforcing the sense that it’s the following movement, “Dirge,” that’s the primary trajectory of all the music in This Silence.”Dirge” was so engrossing that minutes seemingly passed in moments, one becoming lost in its immersive, compelling, dark trains of lyrical thought. Its ending was genuinely spine- tingling…hinting at something transcendent.

5:4

Turnage’s brilliant use of limited orchestral resources is superbly conveyed by Thomas Kemp, who balances his Chamber Domaine players with unerring perfection.

MusicWeb

Kemp created an exciting sound world….The strings played with great rhythmic vitality amidst the swirl of excitement of the first movement while the brass blazed forth… Kemp captured the whimsical alongside the raucous energy of the finale. Crashing symbols and scurrying strings brought the symphony and the concert as a whole to a convincing close.

Bachtrack

Committed performances from Chamber Domaine, definitely an ensemble from whom much can be expected, under the incisive leadership of Thomas Kemp.

Gramophone

Thomas Kemp conducting the City of London Sinfonia gives the singers sensitive support, while keeping the score and the action racing ahead to its dark and uneasy conclusion.

The Times

The sound under the baton of Thomas Kemp was superb…Kemp lifted the lyricism of the orchestral poem into a world of fantasy, exactly as the composer had intended. The audience rewarded the performers with well-earned rapturous applause.” Pohjolan Sanomat“Thomas Kemp goes for vivid contrasts, maximum clarity…This is a polished and paced display.

The Stage

He directs highly persuasive performances…drawing precise, elegant playing thats high on expressivity.

The Strad

Superb sound and superb artistry too with pungent playing from Chamber Domaine con- ducted by Thomas Kemp.

The Times

Thomas Kemp makes an exceptional debut as an opera conductor and coaxes a ravishing blend of colours and expression.

Classical Source

Selected Discography —

Strata: Eleanor Alberga Orchestral Works

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Thomas Kemp give a meticulous and colourful performance...Echoes of Bartók ’s nature music give [Strata] rustling, flurrying energy; a love of Stravinsky..

BBC Music Magazine

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Brian Elias: Music For Strings

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that this is the finest album of contemporary chamber music I have encountered this year.

Gramophone

Buy this album

Brian Elias: Music For Wind

Released as part of a double launch, ‘Music for Wind’ is an album of world premiere recordings by composer Brian Elias, winner of two British Composer Awards. He has had previous compositions performed and recorded extensively by leading orchestras and soloists including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia among many others. The album artwork is by world-renowned artist Anish Kapoor.

Presto Music

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Rakastava

Sibelius as proto-minimalist – well, why not?...It’s not just the cool, spacious recorded sound…or even the way Kemp clarifies and layers Sibelius’s string sound. It’s the way he shapes and...

Gramophone Magazine

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Mark-Anthony Turnage: A Constant Obsession

Glowing interpretations [...] fascinating and beautifully played [...] precise, elegant playing that's high on expressivity

The Strad

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