I had the pleasure of conducting Toby Johnson-Jones, who was the very talented soloist in a performance of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No 3 with the Manchester Beethoven Orchestra on March 22nd , 2025. His performance demonstrated excellent technical ability as well as a sure grasp of the nuances and mood changes in the piece. His playing won well deserved enthusiastic applause from our audience. I found him an excellent soloist to work with - as did the orchestra -and look forward to following the progress of his career in the future.
Frank Lennon (Music Director, Manchester Beethoven orchestra) (Music Director, Manchester Beethoven orchestra) We had the pleasure of Toby joining us in December 2024 to perform to primary school children in Guernsey.
Hundreds of pupils across three schools attended concerts given by him which were informative, accessible and fun.
He had a good rapport with our young people and inspired many of them to start to learn instruments or continue with their instrumental studies.
Toby is approachable and friendly and his concerts in Guernsey were well received by staff and students alike.
Tim Wright Head of Guernsey Music Service, States of Guernsey During his time at the RNCM, Toby has shown great commitment to working with young people and creating opportunities for them to engage with music generally and aspire to perform at their best. He has worked with the Creative Engagement team on a range of projects with both primary and secondary school aged young people and their families. As an example, he has worked on our annual Children’s Opera for several years now. This is a large-scale intensive project and involves working alongside around 140 children to help them create and produce a new piece of musical theatre.
Toby’s dedication to working with young people has been exemplary and he goes out of his way to help them. Under his guidance they develop into confident young musicians, not only because of Toby's own musical skill, but also through his ability to relate to them on a personal level, getting the best out of them in terms of their self-belief and confidence. He spends a great deal of time getting to know them individually and this is reflected in their development. I have had positive feedback from everyone he has worked with on our projects and it is clear they are inspired by his enthusiasm.
Fiona Stuart RNCM head of creative engagement