Birmingham Opera Company has announced the appointment of Alpesh Chauhan as the new music director, starting in July 2020.
Between 2014 and 2016, Birmingham-born Chauhan was assistant conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, having previously been the orchestra's conducting fellow. He took on the role of assistant conductor at just 24, and remains principal conductor of the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma.
'Growing up in Birmingham gave me the best of musical starts – being immersed in culture at the highest level', says Chauhan. 'I'm now extremely happy to be a regular contributor to the city's glowing cultural output.'
It won't be Chauhan's first experience with the Birmingham Opera Company, having made his UK opera debut in 2019 with the company's run of Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.
He will be collaborating with Graham Vick, artistic director of the Birmingham Opera Company.