Chad Kelly

Chad enjoys a rich and diverse career as a keyboard specialist and director, spanning genres from historically-informed performance and chamber music, to opera and musical theatre.

British keyboardist and director Chad Kelly emigrated to Australia at the end of 2021. Since arriving, he has received regular invitations to perform with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, as well as conducting engagements with the Australian Haydn Ensemble, Victorian Opera, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

In 2022 he joined the music staff of Opera Australia, having spent several seasons at the Bavarian State Opera (Munich) and at English National Opera (London). His conducting engagements in Europe include the Bavarian State Opera, Göttingen Händelfestpiele, Vienna's Resonanzen Festival, The Globe's Sam Wanamaker Theatre, Duke of York's Theatre, and the London Handel Festival.

Chad has a commitment to historically-informed performance practice. As a historical keyboard player and director, he has performed at many major festivals in Europe and UK with leading ensembles and performers. He was principal keyboard player for the award-winning group Solomon's Knot, and has guest directed the Academy of Ancient Music. Chad often collaborates with violinist Rachel Podger. His arrangement of Bach's Toccata & Fugue can be heard on Rachel's award-winning disc Tutta Sola, and their performance of the Goldberg Variations was released in October 2023.

Equally adept in the world of contemporary music, he has helped create new work by composers Thomas Adès, Hans Abrahamsen, and Mark-Anthony Turnage, as well as workshopping several new works for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Chad's own arrangements and compositions have been recorded on the Sony and Channel Classics labels.

Chad studied at Cambridge University and at the Royal Academy of Music. He became Lector in Music at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his contribution to the music profession. He continues his nurturing of young musicians as a guest lecturer at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the University of Melbourne.