We are delighted to announce our third and final conductor for NSSO 2025. Andy McDade will be our Academy orchestra conductor.
Andy works internationally as both a performer and teacher. His vibrant style, combined with an enthusiasm for championing contemporary compositions, consistently challenges out-dated perceptions of the tuba repertoire.
During his studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Andy achieved various accolades. He won both the Linda Mowat Brass Prize and the RWCMD Concerto Competition, and has since gone on to perform as a guest soloist with bands and orchestras throughout the UK and Europe.
Andy enjoys a busy freelance career as an orchestral musician, working with orchestras such as the Novello Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Welsh National Opera and Birmingham Royal Ballet.
As an educator and conductor, Andy enjoys enthusing the next generation of musicians. He is a long-standing alumnus of NSSO, and thoroughly enjoys bringing the joy of orchestral music to young players. Andy teaches at two top independent schools in Wales, as well as lecturing Tuba at Cardiff University and acting as Visiting Tutor on a number of county-level courses across the UK.
Find out more about the National Schools Symphony Orchestra team for 2025 here…