Jules Buckley

Jules Buckley is co-founder and conductor of the Heritage Orchestra, Honorary Conductor of the Metropole Orkest (following his tenure as Chief Conductor) and Chief Artist in Association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In these roles he has programmed evenings at major venues and festivals around the world.

“It’s a huge honour for me to join the prestigious BBC Symphony Orchestra... I hope to continue to innovate and challenge the stereotypes of what orchestral music should be.”

His collaboration with Quincy Jones has been performed at the BBC Proms, in Paris and the USA, and for Jones’s 85th birthday at the O2. Other collaborations include Jacob Collier and Cory Henry in 2017 with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, a King’s Day Eve concert with Benjamin Clementine and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2016, Days Off Festival in Paris with Patrick Watson and the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, and Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest at the North Sea Jazz Festival. In 2021 he returned to the Barbican to lead the BBC SO in a collaboration with Paul Weller, following his orchestral collaboration with Lianne La Havas in February 2020.

Other performances at the BBC Proms include partnerships with Laura Mvula and Jamie Cullum, an Urban Classic Prom and projects such as ‘The Songs of Scott Walker’, ‘Beneath the Underdog: Charles Mingus Revisited’, ‘New York: Sound of a City’ and ‘Mississippi Goddam: A Homage to Nina Simone’.

Last year Jules Buckley made his debut as a radio presenter on BBC Radio 3’s award-winning Classical Fix podcast, curating a set of personal playlists for guests including Nadine Shah, Cory Henry and Arlo Parks.