Longborough Festival Opera has announced the appointment of Harry Sever as their first Ring Cycle Conducting Fellow. Sever will work alongside Music Director and leading Wagnerian Anthony Negus as the festival works toward the cycle in 2024.

The appointment comes following an audition process which saw eight conductors work with Negus on the opening scene of “Siegfried.” The panel was comprised of Longborough Artistic Director Polly Graham, Artistic Advisor Isabel Murphy, and Royal Academy of Music’s Head of Opera Brenda Hurley.

A graduate of Oxford, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Royal Academy of Music, Sever has worked on the staff of companies such as the English National Orchestra, Den Jyske Opera, and the Grange Festival; he has performed at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and the Barbican, among others.

“We are thrilled to be working with Harry Sever – an extraordinary young conductor,” says Graham. “We are excited to be expanding our work with Emerging Artists into the field of conducting. Anthony’s knowledge and vast experience in this repertoire are things which must be passed on to the next generation, and we have created this new role to make sure this happens.”