A dynamic presence in both the opera house and concert hall, Rory Macdonald leads orchestras of the highest level around the world in a notably wide repertoire.

He opened the 2025 Glyndebourne Festival with an acclaimed production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, following a production of La Bohème there in 2022. In recent seasons he has returned regularly to the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, Oper Frankfurt and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. He has also made debuts with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic and Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, amongst others. During the pandemic he was invited to conduct the Philharmonia, RSNO and RLPO in streamed broadcasts.

Many of the highlights of Rory’s career have taken place in Australasia, including Romeo Castellucci’s staging of Mozart’s Requiem at the Adelaide Festival; Britten’s Peter Grimes in concert with tenor Stuart Skelton at the Brisbane Festival; and guest engagements with the Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian Symphony as well as the Auckland Philharmonia and Opera Australia. He stepped in at very short notice for the late Mariss Jansons in 2013, conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House and in Beijing.

A passionate advocate for new music, Rory has conducted the premieres of works by composers including Sally Beamish, Sir James MacMillan, Geoffrey Gordon and Carl Vine. In addition to his performing work, Rory is dedicated to bringing music to people who might not ordinarily attend concerts. He has been involved with numerous musical outreach projects, including work with Young Carers, with prisoners, and with local and national youth orchestras. In addition, he served for several years as Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra in Manchester. Rory’s discography includes Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with Nicola Benedetti for Decca as well as highly acclaimed discs for Hyperion, Chandos and Linn Records.

Other notable symphonic engagements include the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the opera house he has conducted productions for Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Opera Australia, Gothenburg Opera, Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera, Teatro São Carlos, Bergen National Opera, Grange Park Opera and the Wexford Festival.