John Lubbock

Who is John Lubbock?

John Lubbock is an English conductor and singer, founder of the Orchestra of St John's Smith Square, which he has brought to prominence including performances at the Proms as well as engaging in outreach and charity work.

John Lubbock founded the Orchestra of St John’s Smith Square in 1967. He led the orchestra on tours to Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the USA. He also appeared with them at the Bulgarian, Bratislava and Turku festivals in the 1980s, as well as a Southern Television programme with the Labèque sisters. In August 1985 he and the orchestra took part in the premiere of Iain Hamilton’s opera Lancelot.

He conducted recordings of Mendelssohn symphonies 3 and 4, Stravinsky’s Apollon Musagete and Orpheus, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky string serenades and of Mozart overtures.

In 1985 Lubbock conducted the world premiere of a reconstruction by Philip Wilby of a Sinfonia concertante in A for the programme 'Mozart's Unfinished’. He also conducted the choral soundtrack for Doomwatch Winter Angel, a feature length television drama.

During his career Lubbock has conducted six Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, from 1976 to 2006. These included World premieres and Proms premieres as well as the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Yefim Bronfman, Shlomo Mintz, and Yo-Yo Ma.