Michael England has established a reputation as a highly versatile conductor of an extremely wide repertory, including musical theatre, classical, ballet, film and live television. For the latter, highlights include the ITV production of ‘The Sound of Music - Live’ and being both arranger and conductor for BBCTV’s Sports Personality of the Year 2017.
He has conducted many top UK orchestras including the Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Royal Philharmonic Concert, BBC Concert, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Orchestra of Opera North, National Symphony Orchestra. International engagements include the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Slovenia Radio Symphony, Stockholm Sinfonietta, the Estonian Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta and NDR Radio Philharmonie, with which he recorded a CD of film music, which was released in February 2020 on Sony Music and nominated for an Opus Klassik award.
Michael has composed for the Royal Ballet’s Draft Works at the Clore Studio and New Works at the Linbury Theatre. For Deaf Men Dancing he created sound design and electronic compositions for Rosa at Sadler’s Wells, See Hear, Exceptional & Extraordinary for a UK tour, and is working on a new project entitled Hut 8 based on the work of Alan Turing. He has composed various choral pieces, including a 40 minute Requiem and he was commissioned by the Royal Ballet School to compose a traditional 40-minute classical ballet, La Destinée, which premiered on the main stage at the Royal Opera House.
In the musical theatre world, in London’s West End and internationally, he has been Musical Director for productions of ‘Les Misérables’; ‘The Phantom of the Opera’; ‘Jerry Springer – The Opera’ (also for BBC TV); ‘The Sound of Music’; ‘Miss Saigon’; ‘Top Hat’; ‘The Producers’; Monty Python’s ‘Spamalot’; ‘Cats’ and ‘Evita’. He was invited to conduct the opening weeks of Cameron Mackintosh’s new 25th anniversary production of ‘Les Misérables’, for which he conducted the live cast album and also worked on the 2012 film. Michael also conducted the UK debut concert performance of George Gershwin's ‘Of Thee I Sing’ at the Royal Festival Hall.
He made his ballet debut with Shanghai Ballet, conducting their new production of Hamlet, choreographed by Derek Deane, for which he created the score, adapting and orchestrating music by Tchaikovsky. Michael has returned there to conduct revivals of Hamlet, as well as productions of Romeo & Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and The Lady of the Camellias. He returned last year to conduct the world premiere of a ballet of ‘Le Fantôme de l’Opéra’, featuring the music of Carl Davis.
Last year saw debuts with Queensland Ballet, with ‘Strictly Gershwin’ and the London Philharmonic, as well as conducting the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Hyde Park Festival and he was also the resident conductor for AEG’s Christmas series at the Royal Festival Hall. 2024 includes conducting for the first time at Tulsa Ballet, again ‘Strictly Gershwin’ and at Gothenburg Opera.