2026+ YANNIS DAOUTIS
In 2026 we are delighted to welcome Yannis Daoutis as our new Conductor!
Originally from Snape, Suffolk, Yannis headed North in 2012 to study Clarinet and Conducting at Leeds College of Music, obtaining a degree in Classical Music in 2015. His teachers included Colin Honour (Opera North) and Jonathan Lo (Northern Ballet, Royal Ballet) and he participated in masterclasses with Emma Johnson, Janet Hilton, Robert Plane, Natalia Luis-Bassa and Erik Nielsen. Whilst a student, Yannis received the College Prize for Woodwind (2013) and along with the Trio “Les Trois Vents” was runner up of the LUUMS Chamber Music Competition (2015). During his time, he founded and served as Musical Director of the LCoMSU Camerata and Chorus.
Yannis returned to Snape in 2013 to assist Robin Ticciati OBE (Glyndebourne Opera, DSO-Berlin) in a residency with the Britten-Pears Orchestra and cellist Miklós Peréyni. He was invited to attend the Progetto Musica 2018 at the Foundazione Spinola Banna per L’Arte in Turin, Italy, supporting the ensemble mdi and Fillipo Perocco working on two new compositions in conjunction with the composer Unsuk Chin.
More recently, Yannis served as Musical Director for Halifax Symphony Orchestra (2023-2026) and Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra (2020-2025).
Having settled in Leeds over the past ten years, Yannis has held a number of positions in the region including: staff conductor for Leeds College of Music; Chorus Director with the Leeds International Festival Orchestra; Musical Director of the Orchestra of Leeds Cathedral; Musical Director for the White Rose Orchestra; associate conductor for Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra; conductor for York Youth Orchestra; conductor for Leeds Summer Orchestra; and as assistant conductor under Ben Crick and the English National Philharmonic Orchestra.
Beyond conducting, Yannis currently works as an Asset Compliance Manager for the University of Leeds, specialising in building and engineering compliance, and has previously managed property and decarbonisation projects for education providers in the Leeds region. He is a Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, Certified Member of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management and Member of the Association of University Engineers.
When not conducting, or holding down a normal career, Yannis is a keen cook and wine buff, gardener and now hobby vintner, having recently bottled his first vintage. He enjoys hosting large feasts for friends and family with his wife, Katie and toddler, Eleni.
2023-2025 WILLIAM DUTTON
We had a wonderful three years from January 2023 working with William Dutton as our Conductor
Born and brought up in Yorkshire, William Dutton is fast making a name for himself as one of the most exciting and sensitive young artists in the UK. Having won the Strings Final of BBC Young Musician of the Year, he is now emerging as a dynamic young conductor, having been the first British conductor ever admitted to the Italian Conducting Academy in Milan where he studied with Gilberto Serembe.
William began his international musical career as a singer, winning BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the year in 2006. He then went on to make his BBC Proms debut in 2007, was signed by Universal Music as a member of ‘The Choirboys’ and starred in Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of ‘The Magic Flute’. Following his early violin studies with the Kazakh virtuoso violinist Marat Bisengaliev, he went on to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School and in 2014 won the strings category of BBC Young Musician of the Year. In 2020, William was the first British pupil to be invited to study conducting at the Italian Conducting Academy in Milan, and made his UK conducting debut two years later.
William launched Cuore Chamber Orchestra, a new professional orchestra for Yorkshire on 8th May at the Royal Hall, Harrogate. The orchestra is made from the finest young, international, world-class musicians who currently work in orchestras across the UK and in Europe. As its Artistic Director, William wants Cuore to focus on the best of British music, and the first half of their opening concert will feature works by Gustav Holst, Lennox Berkeley and Edward Elgar.