ERSO’s new Assistant Conductor!

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The selection process for our new Assistant Conductor was the toughest yest – we had 16 great applicants, we had the pleasure of interviewing 8 conductors and 4 were invited to audition. The orchestra had a great morning working with the shortlisted candidates and there was very positive feedback for all of them, It was a tough choice with four such talented young conductors!

We are delighted to announce that the new Assistant Conductor for ERSO will be Beth Fitzpatrick.

Described as “a talent to look out for”, Beth Fitzpatrick is a graduate of the Orchestral Conducting Masters at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and studied Music at the University of Oxford, (BA, MSt). She established herself as a prominent musical director in Oxford, leading productions of The Mikado (2022), Le nozze di Figaro (2023), and Don Giovanni (2024).

While based in Cardiff, she has assisted on multiple productions, including Sweeney Todd, Orphée aux Enfers and multiple Opera Scenes performances, and conducted world premieres of several symphonic and choral works. She made her London conducting debut with Ensemble Orquesta’s Don Giovanni (2025), earning a Fringe Theatre Award. She was the Female and Non-Binary Conductor Trainee at Opera North (25-26), assisting on productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Britten’s Peter Grimes, and David Fennessey’s Pass the Spoon. She also conducted the run of Opera North’s family concert series ‘Orchestra Unpacked’ and assisted the Opera North Youth Orchestra’s performance of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. She is the assistant conductor of the Alina Orchestra in Milton Keynes where she recently jumped in to conduct a performance of Max Richter’s Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons.

Future performances include Hansel and Gretel with Opera North, Puccini’s Tosca and the world premiere of Lisa Logan’s After my Breath: A Love Letter to Greta at the Grimeborn Festival, UK. She will also assist on Opera Prelude’s double bill of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and Weill’s Die sieben Todsünden (Seven Deadly Sins) at Opera Holland Park in August.

Alex – our new Principal Cello!

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We are thrilled to welcome our new Principal Cello Alex Lavine.

Alex Lavine is a dynamic cellist and recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where he was honored with the Kraeuter Musical Foundation Award and twice recognized in the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition. His recent performances have taken him to prestigious venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the DiMenna Center, and Bohemian National Hall.

A passionate chamber musician, Alex has appeared at the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and performed alongside esteemed artists such as Carmit Zori, Ara Gregorian, Hye-Jin Kim, Charles Neidich, Colin Carr, Zvi Plesser, Kwan Yi, and Emanuel Gruber.

In October, Alex was selected to perform in the Rising Stars concert at Cello Akademie Rutesheim, where he also studied with Wen-Sinn Yang. He has served as principal cellist with orchestras at both the Manhattan School of Music and Indiana University, and was a member of the inaugural season of the New Carolina Sinfonia.

Dedicated to arts education and community engagement, Alex is currently a faculty member at the Richmond Music Trust. He was co-founder and Director of Marketing and Development for Bloomington Connect, an initiative focused on training artist-citizens in underserved spaces. He has previously taught at the Opportunity Music Project and Larchmont Music Academy, assisted Julia Lichten at the Meadowmount School of Music, and presented masterclasses at East Carolina University.

Alex’s principal mentors include Julia Lichten, David Geber, Eric Kim, Emanuel Gruber, Bonnie Thron, and Jeffrey Solow. He recently relocated to London to pursue postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Hannah Roberts. He is the recipient of Second Prize in the North London Music Festival’s D’Addario String Competition, and has been shortlisted for North and East London’s Musician of the Year—a distinction that includes a London concerto debut in February 2026.

He is grateful to Help Musicians for supporting his studies, and performs on a 1979 cello by Colin J Irving, purchased with a grant from the Loan Fund for Musical Instruments.

Hello Elliott!

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Sadly, 24 November was our last concert with Principal Cellist Jenny Sturt – she has been amazing to work with and we will miss her so much. However, it’s more of an au revoir as Jenny will be our soloist in our March concert – sure to be a great evening!

We are delight to announce that Elliott Bailey is stepping into the Principal Cello role.

Recently graduating from the Royal Academy of Music where his string quartet held the chamber music scholarship to study with the Doric Quartet, Elliott has freelanced with English Touring Opera, Welsh National Opera, The Hallé, Northern Chamber Orchestra (as principal cello), and Chineke! amongst others, which has taken him on international tours to the US – most notably Lincoln Center, and all around Europe.

An active chamber musician, he plays Wigmore Hall recitals with renowned bass player Leon Bosch, has featured several times on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ live broadcasts, and has played many chamber music festivals including Petworth and Clapham festivals. Elliott is also keen on session playing and has recorded the sound track to BBC’s Luther as well as being the featured cello soloist on Nainita Desai’s ‘Tales on Kenzera’, and has appeared on the Graham Norton Show and Jonathan Ross show with the Sugababes and RAYE.