Before transitioning to tech, New Zealand-born Holly Mathieson was an award-winning conductor, regularly working with opera houses, ballet companies and orchestras in Europe, Australasia and North America.
She was the Music Director of Symphony Nova Scotia until 2025, a partnership that attracted acclaim for its bold programming, strategic acumen and championing of local artists from diverse musical backgrounds. She recorded for BBC Radio 3 and CBC, and her first major commercial recording with Decca, a collaboration with Isata Kanneh-Mason and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, reached #1 on the UK classical charts. Her work saw her travel to nearly every continent on the planet, and perform for audiences spanning from the British Royal Family and Europe’s political elites, to Scotland’s homeless and refugee communities.
A passionate communicator, with crystalline technique and a collaborative approach, she won plaudits in all forms of music direction from opera, ballet and family concerts, to full scale symphonic programmes. In her final seasons she conducted the Prague Radio Symphony, London Symphony, Philharmonia, NZ Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, London Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia and Scottish Chamber Orchestras, as well as most of the BBC Orchestras. In the theatre, she worked with Danish Royal Ballet, Opera North, Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, English Touring Opera and New Zealand Opera. Recording and broadcasting credits include the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera North.
2018 saw the inaugural tour of the innovative Nevis Ensemble, of which she was founding co-Artistic Director with husband Jon Hargreaves until the organisation expanded in 2022, a project built on the maxim that "music is for everyone, everywhere”. In the first two years of their joint tenure, the orchestra gave 170 free performances to around 25,500 people all across Scotland, from farming communities in the Scottish Borders to the summit of Ben Nevis in the Highlands, and including the most comprehensive tour of the Outer Hebrides by an orchestra, which even saw the ensemble perform on Hirta, in the remote archipelago of St Kilda.
Holly still accepts occasional conducting work that interests her, or with organisations with whom she enjoys a particularly strong relationship, such as the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. But her focus is now on supporting and coaching new generations of conductors, and supporting other conductors who are considering a career change. She has been a guest teacher and examiner at the Royal College of Music, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow University, Manchester University, and Otago University. In addition to this, Holly is launching an online, on-demand learning platform in music leadership through her company Scordatura.
For all inquiries about conducting-related work, contact Holly's agency, Music Inter Alia.