Black and white close up of Murray Hipkin

Murray Hipkin

Assistant Conductor

Murray Hipkin joined the ENO Music Staff (1983–8) and then worked for Opera Factory and Opera Brava (as Musical Director) and as a freelance accompanist and teacher, rejoining ENO in 1995.

Career Highlights

Previously for ENO: Murray has worked extensively as Senior Répétiteur; as Assistant Conductor, notably on Dr Atomic, The Passenger, The Death of Klinghoffer, Dr Dee, Julius Caesar, Medea, The Sunken Garden, Die Fledermaus, Così fan tutte, The Gospel According to the Other Mary, The Indian Queen, Sweeney Todd (also Chorus Director), Sunset Boulevard (also Chorus Director), The Pearl Fishers, Satyagraha and Akhnaten; as Associate Conductor on The Duchess of Malfi (ENO/Punchdrunk), and has conducted performances of The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, The Gondoliers, Kismet,Carousel, Chess and Man of La Mancha.

Notable conducting engagements elsewhere: La bohème (Surrey Opera, Opera Box); UK première of Salieri’s Falstaff, Haydn’s La vera costanza, Mozart’s Apollo and Hyacinth, Gluck’s Le Cinesi (Bampton Classical Opera); Sweeney Todd (Shawford Mill); The Sound of Music (London Palladium, as Musical Director); War Requiem (North London Chorus/Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra); Musical Director of the North London Chorus since 2003 and the Pink Singers since 2011; currently leading the ENO Community Choir. He worked on the world/UK premieres of The Death of Klinghoffer (Brussels/Edinburgh) and assisted John Adams and conducted on location for the award-winning Channel 4 film of the opera. In 2012 he assisted Adams on Nixon in China (BBC Proms/Berlin Philharmonie).

Opera translations: La vera costanza; Le Cinesi.

Television: Music Supervisor, coach and conductor for the 2022 ENO/Sky Arts series Anyone Can Sing.

Last updated: 4th May 2023