JURY MEMBER

Paul Hughes joined the BBC in 1999 and for 23 years was Director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and Director of the BBC Singers for ten of those years. A graduate of Trinity College of Music where he studied piano, composition and conducting, Paul Hughes came to the BBC following key roles with The Academy of Ancient Music (General Manager), IMG Artists, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Chief Executive) and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra (General Manager).

Under his directorship, the BBC ensembles toured the world, recorded extensively, expanded audiences live, on air and on social media, undertook a wide range of innovative education and audience development projects and championed new music, new composers and new artists.

Cultural change has been a hallmark of the ensembles Paul Hughes has managed, opening up access to new audiences and markets, and collaborating with the widest range of artists from the worlds of classical music, rock and pop, literature, and television.

In recent years, Paul has led on the design of a new studio complex for the BBC ensembles, currently under construction on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the site of the 2012 Olympic Games, and due to open in 2025.

A former Governor of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for nine years, Paul has a passion for discovering and nurturing the next generation of musicians and audiences and is a guest lecturer at several of the UK’s leading conservatoires, mentoring young conductors and composers, and lecturing on programming. He is the recipient of honorary membership from Trinity College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Royal College of Music and has recently been honoured by the Finnish government with the award of Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion, for services to Finnish music and musicians.

Paul Hughes is regularly invited as a juror for international competitions including the Hamamatsu and Honens Piano Competitions, the Long Thibaud Crespin piano and violin competitions, the Besancon and Svetlanov conducting competitions and the NCPA Young Composer programme in Beijing, China.

Since leaving the BBC, Paul Hughes’ career has focused on mentoring, nurturing and teaching early career musicians, conductors, composers and arts administrators. He is Senior Advisor on Programming and Mentoring for the Lead Foundation in Finland; guest lecturer for Norway’s prestigious Dirigentløtet programme, visiting mentor for the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, and in the autumn will join the conducting faculty of the Royal College of Music, London. In autumn 2024 Paul will make his first visit to Tokyo College of Music as a guest lecturer before returning to join the jury for the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition.