George Ellis’ illustrious career includes conducting the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games for an international television audience of 3.8 billion people, conducting for Queen Elizabeth II on live national television and performing with artists including Lou Reed for international arts festivals.

He has been Musical Director for special events around Australia and internationally for many years. Highlights include the Athens Olympics, the Jakarta Arts Festival, Music by Moonlight concert series in Brisbane and Sydney Olympic Park, and the Sydney Festival including many concerts at the Famous Spiegeltent.

In concert, he has conducted many orchestras including the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Tasmanian Symphony and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra - the latter in conjunction with popular band Augie March. He has conducted popular music and symphony orchestras in combination with artists including Human Nature, David Campbell, Caroline O’Connor, Marcia Hines, Simon Burke, Guy Sebastian and Anthony Callea. Soloists for his classical music performances include Diana Doherty, Simon Tedeschi, David Hobson, Kathryn Selby, Jane Rutter, Joan Carden and Deborah Riedel.

His stage and screen work includes conducting for the Bruce Beresford film Mao’s Last Dancer, the soundtrack to the Japanese movie The Tower of Druaga and as Musical Director for musical theatre production Snugglepot and Cuddlepie for Belvoir Street Theatre, Associate Musical Director for Man of La Mancha starring Anthony Warlow and Assistant Conductor to Simone Young for Opera Australia’s production of La Traviata. His concerts have also been broadcast on national radio including the world premiere of Matthew Hindson’s Violin Concerto.

George Ellis received first prize in orchestral composition at the Sydney Eisteddfod. His piece Celebration Overture received its world premiere by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur. He has also been orchestrator and musical arranger for artists such as Alex Lloyd and for the Copenhagen National Radio Orchestra.

He has been Musical Director and Composer for the Babies Proms orchestral series at the Sydney Opera House for many years and has presented concerts for children around Australia with orchestras including the Queensland Symphony, Orchestra Victoria, Sydney Sinfonia and the Sydney Youth Orchestra. He has lectured at prestigious music institutions including the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Canberra School of Music and has presented workshops in Music Theatre and Conducting for NIDA and the Australian Society for Music Education. He is the Musical Director of the Sydney University Symphony Orchestra.

His portrait was hung at the NSW Art Gallery as finalist in the 2007 Archibald Prize and won the People’s Choice award in Sydney and Melbourne for that year.

In 2010, he conducted for the Sydney Festival and went on concert tour to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam an London. He presented concerts featuring renowned pianists Kathryn Selby and Gerard Willems and conducted education concerts around Australia including at the Sydney Opera House. He was also Musical Director for the Australian premier for the Production Company’s stage production of Sugar, Some Like it Hot in Melbourne.

So far in 2011, he has been on concert tour to New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. He conducted the symphony orchestra for the 30th Anniversary concert for legendary band The Church at the Sydney Opera House and conducted the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in concert with Australian icon, John Williamson.