Robin Browning is an established conductor and renowned conducting teacher. Praised as an “expert musician & conductor” by Sir Charles Mackerras, Robin is a passionate advocate for the power of music to change lives. Striving for a flexible approach in all aspects of his work – conducting, music education and conductor training – he always aims to inspire and unite through communication and barrier-breaking.
'An assured and very gifted musician'
John Lill
Conducting
Robin is currently Principal Conductor and Music Director with de Havilland Philharmonic, Petersfield Orchestra, Havant Chamber Orchestra and Essex Youth Orchestra.
He is the Artistic Director of SÓN Orchestra, a flexible, professional UK-based ensemble, appointed as Orchestra in Association at Southampton’s Turner Sims for three seasons between 2017 and 2020. With SÓN, Robin instigated a highly successful series of Unwrapped events, sharing the stage with David Owen Norris and John Suchet to explore and ‘unwrap’ composers including Beethoven, Copland, Elgar and Vaughan Williams. A Beethoven concerto cycle with John Lill culminated in the Emperor in 2019, and Max Richter’s Four Seasons Recomposed (with soloist Thomas Gould) featured in the same year.
Robin also appears as a regular guest conductor, including in recent seasons with Milton Keynes City Orchestra, Oxford University Orchestra, Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra, and Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra in London. Since making his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Barbican Hall, Robin has conducted (amongst others) the Hallé, English Northern Philharmonia, Northern Sinfonia, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Estonian National Youth Orchestra.
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Music Education & Collaborative Projects
Driven by a deep belief in music education, Robin spearheads multiple outreach and community projects with SÓN Orchestra musicians. Highlights include SÓNic Interventions – a four-concert series curated by Robin to celebrate the opening of Southampton's new John Hansard Gallery, featuring artwork by Gerhard Richter, with works chosen to explore space, minimalism and randomness; Tales of a Young Person’s Orchestra – with SoCo Music Project, based around Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony in three Hampshire SEND schools; and two electronic waste projects, TRACE-E – the first involving 100 schoolchildren performing new pieces about environment and the circular economy, the second featuring Robin as Musician-in-Residence composing and performing new works based on smartphone sounds.
An Album from this most recent project – The TRACE-E EP – can be found on Robin's Soundcloud page, and various associated films can be viewed on his YouTube channel.
'Excellent communicator, great musician'
Craig Ogden
Robin enjoys a highly successful collaboration with artist and presenter James Mayhew, since their earliest performances together on stage with de Havilland Philharmonic over 15 years ago. In that time, in more than 50 concerts together, they have impacted and inspired the lives of youngsters through music, art and story-telling.
He has also worked with some of the world’s greatest soloists, including violinists Savitri Grier, Jennifer Pike and Jack Liebeck; violists Laurence Power and Timothy Ridout; cellists Raphael Wallfisch and Guy Johnston; guitarist Craig Ogden; and upcoming horn players Annemarie Federle and Ben Goldscheider.
Conducting Teaching
In addition to his conducting, arts-leadership and guest-conducting work, Robin enjoys a teaching career which has spanned almost three decades, inspiring countless young musicians to take up the baton. For over 20 years he held the position of conducting specialist teacher at University of Southampton, and has given workshops and masterclasses around the UK, including at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, University of Hertfordshire and at Winchester College. He now works exclusively with the conductors in the British Army, where he has been Conducting Professor since 2022.
Robin initially studied on an Italian Government Scholarship at Accademia Chigiana, Siena, with Myung-Whun Chung and the legendary Ilya Musin. He furthered his training in the USA with Benjamin Zander and movement specialist Joseph Gifford. Robin was mentored for many years by Sir Charles Mackerras, deepened his technical conducting studies with Sian Edwards, and participated in masterclasses with Neeme Järvi and Paavo Järvi at the Oistrakh Festival in Pärnu, Estonia. He went on to assist Paavo Järvi on his Beethoven cycle with Deutsche Kammerphilharmie, and Nielsen Symphonies project with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Robin has also served as assistant conductor to Sakari Oramo on the UK premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leila Josefowicz, and Sian Edwards in works by Maxwell Davies with London Sinfonietta at the BBC Proms.
Having benefited from years of intense training with such esteemed teachers, Robin is passionate about passing on his knowledge and experience to the next generation of musicians, infusing his pedagogy with a combination of technical rigour and expressive power. His students can be found today on the podiums of orchestras and bands across the UK and Europe.
Recordings
Equally at home in the recording studio as much as the concert hall, Robin has recorded four albums for commercial release, including selected world premiere performances with various ensembles, featuring composers such as Raymond Warren, John Hopkins and Howard Burrell. All are available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and other streaming platforms.
Robin’s TRACE-E Musician-in-Residence project culminated in a recent album release, now available on Soundcloud, recorded with SÓN Orchestra musicians combined with electronic samples, Ableton Live and spoken word.
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