Conductor

Gregory began conducting choirs in the late 1960s and shortly afterwards began to work in the orchestral and opera fields.

In 1974 he founded Singcircle, the renowned contemporary vocal ensemble. The ensemble performed throughout the UK and internationally including a BBC Prom, appearances in France, Germany, Holland and Estonia among others and several recordings and broadcasts. In particular the group is known for its many performances of Stockhausen’s Stimmung including several with the composer himself. The group released an award-winning recording of the piece in 1980.

As a guest conductor Gregory is particularly noted for his performances of the romantic and contemporary repertoires, having conducted over a thousand premieres of orchestral, choral and ensemble works throughout Europe and the Far East. Orchestras include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra. On the continent he has worked with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestras of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ireland. He also regularly conducts in Sri Lanka including several liturgical masses for the Catholic Church that attract 3,000-4,000 people each time.

Gregory is also the Principal Conductor of the Jupiter Orchestra and Singers which he founded in 1984. The orchestra has performed regularly since and made a highly acclaimed recording of music by Janáček, on Chandos.

In the field of opera and music theatre Gregory conducted the British stage premieres of Vanessa by Samuel Barber, Berthold Goldschmidt’s Beatrice Cenci, Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts and Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. He also conducted the UK premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Visions of Lear at the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House and a UK tour of Bizet’s Carmen. Other repertoire conducted include works by Stravinsky, Nino Rota, Gian Carlo Menotti, Malcolm Williamson, Poulenc, Berio, Maxwell Davies, Jonathan Harvey and Stockhausen. He was Chorus Master at Wexford Festival Opera from 1993-1994.

Gregory has worked closely with composers such as Stockhausen, Cage, Steve Reich, Lachenmann and Birtwistle. In the 1980s he directed ‘Cage at 70’, featuring Cage himself, and two years later ‘Reich at 50’, both part of the Almeida Festival. He also collaborated on the premiere recording of John Cage’s Song Books on the Sub Rosa label with Loré Lixenberg and Robert Worby which sold out in seven weeks.

He has recorded for many international television and radio stations, and has made highly acclaimed recordings for Chandos, Hyperion, Wergo, Continuum, October Music, Toccata Classics, Dacapo and Naxos. He is also a sought-after studio conductor and arranger having conducted orchestral arrangements for Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross and Madness.

He has been a staff conductor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance since 1992 and from 1999-2019 was the conductor of CoMA London Ensemble.