Charles Hazlewood sealed his reputation as one of the UK's most exciting young conductors when, after a period studying at Christ's Hospital and Oxford University, he took first prize at a European Broadcasting Union conducting competition in Lisbon.

His skills are constantly in demand, with invitations to guest conduct most of the nation's leading orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Northern Sinfonia. Internationally, he's taken the podium for the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland,the Orquester Sinfonica Portuguesa,the Patras Chamber Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony, the Newhaven Symphony and, at Carnegie Hall last June, the Orchestra of St Luke's. A passionate supporter of new music, he has conducted over fifty world premieres.

Since the autumn of 2003, Charles has presented Discovering Music for BBC Radio 3, a weekly exploration of the great music from the past three centuries. Charles conducts and deconstructs works from composers as diverse as Debussy and Miles Davis. For BBC Radio 2, he has presented The Charles Hazlewood Show and on television has shared his enthusiasm in Vivaldi Unmasked, The Genius of Mozart, and Beethoven.