Melvin Tay

Professor in Conducting

PhD, MMus, BMus (Hons)

Email: [email protected]

Melvin is a conductor and music director specialising in contemporary, cross-cultural, operatic, and large-scale projects. He is frequently engaged to lead complex productions, working in contexts that demand close collaboration between composers, performers, and production teams. His work spans collaborations with ensembles across diverse musical genres, including the BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, London Voices, National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and Orchestral Qawwali Project (OQP), among others. He also maintains an active symphonic practice across Classical–Romantic and 20th-century repertoire, alongside his contemporary, cross-cultural, and operatic work. He currently serves as Music Director of Northern Film Orchestra (NFO), and is the Artistic Director of Leeds Haydn Players.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Melvin has conducted numerous notable premieres, including the recording of Rushil Ranjan’s music for the Aakash Odedra Company’s production of Songs of the Bulbul, which premiered at Edinburgh International Festival to critical acclaim; the world premiere of Shikwa—the first-ever symphonic interpretation of Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s legendary Urdu poem—with Manchester Camerata at Bradford Literature Festival; and Zakiya Leeming’s Dangerous Matter, a new opera exploring the story of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the origins of inoculation. His work with the BBC Philharmonic includes recordings for BBC Radio 3, Blue Peter, and a new musical by Theo Jamieson and Simon Pitts for BBC World Service. Across these projects, Melvin has worked closely with composers and producers to shape musical structure, scale, and presentation from development through to performance and recording.

As conductor for OQP, Melvin brings together Qawwali and Western classical musicians in performances that require close musical coordination and sensitivity across traditions. With NFO, he has led the UK premiere of Michael Shapiro’s Frankenstein alongside the 1931 film, as well as numerous recording sessions including A Gentleman in Moscow (Paramount+), and the Angelina Ballerina and Miffy audiobooks for Yoto. Additionally, he conducted the recording of Panopticon by David Fennessy with Psappha and the Hebrides Ensemble for NMC Recordings. He was also the conductor of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group NEXT between 2021 and 2023.

On the opera stage, Melvin made his Singapore debut conducting a double bill of Menotti’s The Telephone and his own 65-minute chamber arrangement of Puccini’s La Bohème. He also served as Assistant Conductor for the premiere of Adam Gorb’s The Path to Heaven and has led productions of Verdi’s La Traviata and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with OperaViva. He is particularly focused on rethinking scale and format, including chamber reductions and alternative presentations that bring operatic storytelling into more flexible and intimate contexts.

Alongside being a tutor in conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music, he has also led conducting workshops for the Royal Air Force Band Service and the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company. As a team member of ConductIT, an Erasmus+ funded platform, Melvin plays a key role in developing high-quality educational resources for conductors of all levels.

Melvin also produces bespoke orchestrations and arrangements for ensembles worldwide. His expertise lies particularly in crafting opera reductions, supported by a PhD in this field.

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