Martyn Brabbins (OCC Director) is one of Britain 's leading and most versatile conducting talents. Artistic Director of the Cheltenham International Festival of Music 2005-2007, he was Associate Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra 1994-2005.

Following studies in London and Leningrad (with Ilya Musin), he won first prize at the 1988 Leeds Competition. Since then he has conducted most of the major symphony orchestras in Britain, and appears every season with the Philharmonia and BBC Symphony and at the BBC Proms.

Known for his Elgar, Britten, and Walton, Brabbins also has a strong affinity for the great 19th century Romantics, and for the Russian and French repertoire. Brabbins is also one of Europe's leading interpreters of contemporary music. Equally at home in the opera house, he has conducted productions at the Kirov, English National, Opera North, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Montpellier and at the Netherlands Opera. Brabbins has made over 60 recordings, 30 of them on Hyperion.

Charles Peebles (OCC Assistant Director) studied at Cambridge University, the Guildhall and as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood. In 1992 he won the first International Cadaques Conducting Competition and has since conducted virtually every Spanish orchestra. He has worked with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony and National Orchestra of Mexico as well as with many of the leading British orchestras. In the opera house Charles has conducted productions for English Touring Opera, Broomhill, Garsington, Glyndebourne and the Bavarian State Opera.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra is is one of Europe's leading symphony orchestras. Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1991. Stéphane Denève became Music Director in September 2005, and this new partnership continues to enjoy overwhelming acclaim.  The RSNO performs across Scotland, including seasons in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness.  It recently toured Austria and Croatia, with two concerts in the Musikverein in Vienna, and last year performed in Paris as part of the Festival Présences. The Orchestra played at the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament building in October 2004, and appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC London Proms. 

Psappha, the leading new music and music-theatre ensemble in the North of England, was formed in 1991 by its Artistic Director Tim Williams. With Nicholas Kok recently appointed as its first Principal Conductor, the eight-strong Psappha has an extensive and exceptionally varied repertoire of over 300 works and a reputation for technical assurance and interpretative flair. Its distinctive concert series and mini-festivals have featured commissions and other premieres of works by a wide range of composers including the award-winning music-theatre work, MR EMMET TAKES A WALK, by its Patron, recently released on Psappha's own CD label.

Based in Manchester, Psappha has appeared throughout the UK, at most of the country's major music festivals, including the BBC Proms in 2004, and in special Henze and Maxwell Davies portrait series in London. It has made highly successful tours to North and South America, Australia, Belgium, France, Holland, Ireland, Jersey, Portugal and Spain. In addition to six recordings on various labels, it launched its CD label in 2004 with Maxwell Davies's EIGHT SONGS FOR A MAD KING and MISS DONNITHORNE'S MAGGOT. Education projects for people of all ages represent an important part of Psappha's busy schedule both in the UK and abroad. It was awarded the Swatch City Life Award for Best Concert Series and Education Work and is currently The University of Manchester's Contemporary Ensemble in Residence.