Benjamin Northey

Benjamin Northey (born 1970 ) is an Australian conductor, musician and arranger. In 2025, he was appointed conductor-in-residence of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, professor of conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and director of the Australian Conducting Academy. He has been chief conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand since 2015. He is also the principal guest conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) having previously been principal conductor-in-residence from 2020 to 2023. He was previously the associate conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2010 to 2019.

Early life and family Northey was born and raised in Ballarat, Victoria. His father Robert (Bob) Northey is a retired university administrator and former president of the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra and his mother Wendy is a forensic psychologist and pianist. His uncle is the retired AFL football player and coach John Northey.

He attended Ballarat Clarendon College where he studied flute, clarinet and saxophone with Barry Currie and arranging with Graeme Vendy, and where his skills as a saxophonist, clarinettist and flautist were first developed; in his early years he also played piano, trumpet and violin. At 12, he won prizes in Ballarat's Royal South Street Eisteddfod for performances on flute and saxophone. It was only in the final year of his degree, at age 29, that he turned to conducting. This occurred under the mentorship of John Hopkins, who encouraged him to be the first candidate for his new Master of Music in Conducting degree at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Music.

In 2001 he won the Nelly Apt Scholarship for study in Israel. The same year he won the Symphony Australia Young Conductor of the year competition, marking the first time the two most prestigious Australian conducting prizes had been won by the same person in the same year. His orchestral arrangements have been used by Tim Minchin, k.d. lang, Lior Attar, The Whitlams and Dan Sultan.

In 2011 he was appointed associate conductor of the MSO (officially the Patricia Riordan Associate Conductor Chair). In 2017 the position was extended to the end of the 2017 season. This position was created especially for Northey, and is the only associate conductor position in any Australian state orchestra.

In his conducting debut in America, Northey led in May 2026 the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in a one-off performance at Heinz Hall of Marsalis's All Rise, a work that Northey had conducted in Melbourne and Sydney in 2023.

Contemporary compositions he has premiered include works by Deborah Cheetham, Peter Sculthorpe, Catherine Milliken, Brett Dean, Elena Kats-Chernin, Matthew Hindson,

Other orchestras conducted Northey has been a guest conductor with the following orchestras:

Awards and nominations AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. 2018 Live at the Sydney Opera House

2019 Bach Concertos 2021 Live at the Sydney Opera House 2023 Blueback (Original Motion Picture Score)

ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. 2008 Baroque Guitar Concertos (with Slava Grigoryan & Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra)

2014 Ades Polaris / Stanhope Piccolo Concerto (with Andrew Macleod, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & Markus Stenz) 2017 Medtner: Piano Concerto No 1 / Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No 2 (with Jayson Gillham & Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) 2018 Ella and Louis (with James Morrison, Patti Austin & Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) Best Jazz Album 2019 Bach Concertos (with Grigoryan Brothers & Adelaide Symphony Orchestra) Best Classical Album 2024 Deborah Finsterer - Stabat Mater (with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne) Best Performance - Notated Composition