Chad Kelly
Conductor
Sydney-based British keyboardist and conductor Chad Kelly is in demand across opera, symphonic repertoire, historically informed performance, and contemporary music. He is currently on the music staff at Opera Australia, following several seasons at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and English National Opera in London. In 2026, he appears with the Melbourne, West Australian and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras, tours with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and conducts Victorian Opera’s The Coronation of Poppea.
A specialist in historically informed performance, Chad has conducted at major European and UK festivals and venues including Göttingen Händelfestspiele, Vienna’s Resonanzen Festival, London’s Globe Theatre, and the London Handel Festival. He is principal keyboardist of the award-winning ensemble Solomon’s Knot and has guest directed the Academy of Ancient Music and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
He made his Opera Australia conducting debut with Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and has led Handel’s Messiah with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. For Victorian Opera, he arranged and conducted a new adaptation of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Abduction), praised for its freshness and contemporary perspective.
Chad’s arrangements and compositions appear on Sony and Channel Classics. His collaborations with violinist Rachel Podger include Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D minor (Tutta Sola) and an acclaimed chamber arrangement of the Goldberg Variations. His reconstruction of Bach’s lost Köthener Trauermusik was premiered by Solomon’s Knot at Wigmore Hall and subsequently performed at Leipzig Bachfest and Tage Alter Musik Regensburg.
In contemporary music, he has collaborated with composers including Thomas Adès, Hans Abrahamsen, and Mark-Anthony Turnage, and contributed to projects at the Royal Opera House. He also arranged and conducted Phantom Island for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s 2025 orchestral tour.
Educated at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, he is an Associate of the Royal Academy and a regular guest lecturer at the Guildhall School and the University of Melbourne.