Richard Hetherington is a British conductor, opera coach, and pianist whose career spans more than two decades of musical leadership, collaboration, and creative innovation within the international opera world. Known for his deep understanding of singers, his broad stylistic range, and his ability to create music that is compelling, heartfelt, and richly expressive, he works regularly across major opera houses, festivals, and conservatoires in Europe, the UK, and Australia, as well as in film and broadcast.

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A formative part of Richard’s artistic life has been his long association with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Having first appeared with the company as a treble soloist in childhood, he returned in 2001 as a member of the permanent music staff, spending sixteen seasons as répétiteur, coach, and assistant conductor on repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to new commissions. In 2017 he was appointed Head of Music, a position he still holds, and one which is generously supported by Bertrand and Elisabeth Meunier.

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For The Royal Opera he has conducted performances of Lucia di Lammermoor, La traviata, La sonnambula, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte, Peter Grimes, and Phaedra. In the 2025–26 season he will conduct Turandot for The Royal Opera. 

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Other conducting highlights include The Turn of the Screw for Istanbul State Opera (2025), the critically acclaimed film version of La traviata for Opera Glass Works with RSNO (Sky Arts and select cinemas, 2024), Rachmaninoff’s Vespers at the Spoleto Festival, Le nozze di Figaro for the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Don Giovanni in Brussels, Xerxes with Hampstead Garden Opera, and further engagements including performances with Queensland Symphony, and Britten Sinfonia. He has also worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, Netherlands Opera, Opera Australia, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and numerous festivals including Salzburg, Vienna, Aix-en-Provence, the BBC Proms, and St Endellion.

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From 2022 to 2024 Richard served as Music Director of the Ustinov Studio in Bath, where he created distinctive chamber opera seasons in collaboration with the renowned UK Director Deborah Warner. Their production Phaedra + Minotaur travelled to the Edinburgh International Festival and The Royal Opera’s Linbury Theatre, earning critical acclaim for its imaginative approach and compelling musical direction.

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As a pianist, he has performed with many of the world’s leading operatic artists, including Renée Fleming, Bryn Terfel, Christine Rice, Robert Tear, John Tomlinson, Stefan Vinke, Emma Matthews, Aigul Akhmetshina, Lisette Oropesa, Danielle de Niese, Ailyn Perez, Stephen Costello, Roderick Williams, Mark Padmore, and Catherine Wyn-Rogers.

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Coaching lies at the heart of Richard’s artistic work. He regularly coaches established operatic artists including Lise Davidsen, Alice Coote, and Bryn Terfel, and has a particular interest in working with emerging artists. He has given masterclasses at institutions such as the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He has worked with young artist programmes and universities in the UK (Jette Parker, Harewood Artists, Jerwood Artists, National Opera Studio), Denmark (Copenhagen Opera Academy), Australia (Lisa Gasteen National Opera Programme), Brussels (International Opera Academy), and Italy (Bel Canto in Tuscany).

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Richard’s dedication to broadening access to opera has seen him play a key role in educational initiatives, including the Royal Opera’s Create & Sing and Everybody Sing programmes, which have engaged thousands of young people in creative music-making.

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Richard has composed short pieces for solo voice and piano, and chorus. Performances of his works have taken place in the Ustinov Theatre, Bath, and at The Royal Opera House. 

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From the age of three Richard was a stammerer, an experience that has profoundly shaped his understanding of communication. The awareness that no stammerer stammers when they sing or make music has directly informed his passion in encouraging every artist in their unique musical and artistic expression. Now a gifted communicator—whether through conducting, coaching, playing, or composing—Richard is committed to a deeply collaborative way of music-making, honouring the symbiotic relationships that arise between artists and, ultimately, between performers and audience. His work seeks a physical, living sense of the full spectrum of harmony—music that is connected, always in motion, and continuously evolving.