George Ellis (born 12 February 1964) is an Australian conductor, composer and orchestrator. He presents concerts for international events with a broad range of styles from classical to pop/rock and jazz as well as presenting orchestral concerts for young audiences. He also lectures in conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is a regular presenter of Sonic Journey for ABC Radio Sydney’s program with Simon Marnie.
Early years
George Ellis was born in Penrith in Western Sydney to Greek-Australian parents. As a child, he learnt to read music and took lessons in music theory and harmony. At high school, he formed a rock band, The Affections, for which he wrote songs and played bass guitar. The band was signed to Deluxe Records and were stablemates of INXS. The band played support for groups including Cold Chisel, Mental As Anything, Moving Pictures, The Angels and The Church.
Education
Ellis completed the Higher School Certificate at Fort Street High School in Sydney's inner west. After The Affections disbanded, he then pursued the study of classical music full-time at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (1984). Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Music Education as Student of the Year (1987), he travelled to the USA where he studied composition at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh (1988) and then conducting at the University of Colorado, Boulder (1989) where he gained a master's degree. He has studied orchestral conducting as part of a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he lectures in conducting.
Conducting work
Upon return to Sydney from the United States in the early 1990s, Ellis made the finals of the inaugural ABC Young Conductors Mastercourse (1994) and was invited to conduct Cesar Franck’s Symphonic Variations with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in Hobart, marking his professional conducting debut (1995). He became assistant conductor to Brian Stacey in the Sydney and Melbourne production of The Secret Garden (musical), starring Anthony Warlow and Marina Prior, for the Gordon Frost Organisation (1996). Ellis conducted This Is the Moment performed by Hugh Jackman with orchestral and choral accompaniment for the NRL Grand Final pre-match entertainment at Sydney Olympic Stadium. (1999). He was to conduct at the same occasion with Kelly Clarkson in 2011 and OneRepublic in 2019.
In 1999, Ellis auditioned for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games to conduct for the Sydney Olympic Games. Musical director of SOCOG, Max Lambert, appointed Ellis to conduct the Olympic Hymn with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Millennium Choir for the opening ceremony and the Australian and Greek National Anthems at the closing ceremony (2000). He was also the musical director of the Millennium Ensemble at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. In 2001, conductor Simone Young appointed Ellis to be her assistant conductor for Opera Australia's production of La traviata at the Sydney Opera House. He was subsequently appointed associate conductor alongside Guy Noble for the Sydney and Melbourne production of Man of La Mancha, starring Anthony Warlow and Caroline O'Connor, for the Gordon Frost Organisation (2002).
Ellis was the musical director of the Australia Day concerts held by the Premier of NSW at the Sydney International Convention and Exhibition Centre – arranging for and conducting artists including Alex Lloyd, David Campbell, Gang Gajang, Simon Burke, Deborah Conway, Clare Bowditch, Casey Donovan and Sneaky Sound System (2002 to 2012). He conducted orchestral and choral groups for the ARIA Awards at Qudos Bank Arena for the artists Amiel Daemion and Art vs. Science (2005, 2011). In 2006, he conducted an orchestral performance of "The Prayer" sung by Anthony Callea for the Australian visit by Queen Elizabeth II for the Commonwealth Games.