New Zealand conductor based in the United Kingdom
Costa Simpson is a New Zealand conductor based in the United Kingdom whose work spans orchestral, choral, and contemporary repertoire across Europe and the Pacific.
Winner of First Prize at the Romanian 3rd International Conducting Competition in 2025 — with his debut there with the Piteşti Philharmonic Orchestra in 2026 — he is a twice-appointed Fellow of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Fellowship in Conducting (2020–21, 2023) and holds an Artist Diploma from the Carlos Miguel Prieto Fellowship in Conducting.
Simpson is a graduate of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland) in Contemporary Repertoire Conducting where he studied with Arturo Tamayo, a leading figure of the post-war avant-garde. He is also a graduate of the University of Auckland where he completed a Bachelor of Music (Hons) in Conducting with Dr Karen Grylls CMNZ. He is currently completing a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, Wales under David Jones.
Recent engagements include assistant conductor at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Welsh National Opera Orchestra/RWCMD Symphony Orchestra’s Side by Side series at RWCMD; conducting the WNO Orchestra in the Conductor’s Showcase at RWCMD; Music Director for a fully staged world premiere musical theatre composition by Max Fowler in RWCMD’s Atmospheres programme; conducting the RWCMD Symphony Orchestra in a world premiere performance of Millie Andrew’s Hiraeth; and conducting the Ionian Youth Orchestra in Thessaloniki, Greece at the 1st International Piano Competition ‘Nora Loukidou’, with pianist Tai-wei Huang, who went on to win first prize.
Simpson has performed regularly with the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, and produced and conducted a programme for the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts with the NCMA Chamber Orchestra and Chroma Chamber Choir. He has been a Conducting Intern with Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and conducted members of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra in concert as part of the NZSO Fellowship in Conducting, where he worked with conductors including André de Ridder, James Judd, Gemma New, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Holly Mathieson, and Hamish McKeich.
He was a participant in the 2024 Järvi Academy working with Paavo Järvi and Leonid Grin, and has participated in masterclasses with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra with Martin Sieghart, the Belgrade Camerata with Martin Åkerwell, and the London Conducting Workshop with Howard Williams. In 2025 Simpson was mentored by Colin Metters as part of the International Conducting Academy, alongside Jonathan Mann, and received mentorship from Jukka Pekka Saraste as part of the LEAD forum 2025.
In 2026 he founded the Snowdon Ensemble and launched TIR, a concert series at RWCMD spanning chamber ensemble to semi-staged opera, with world premiere commissions in three concerts including by RWCMD composer Harry Woodman, culminating in a semi-staged production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw in summer 2027. The series’ bilingual titles — CANRIF//CENTURY; CYNEFIN//WHENUA; and ANTIPODAU//ANTIPODES — reflect a commitment to minority languages and exploring the cultural connections between Wales and Aotearoa New Zealand.
At the heart of his work is a desire to share the music of his southern homeland with the north — and to explore through music what connects us across space and time.
