In 2013, following regular guest appearances for Santa Fe Opera, Harry Bicket became their Chief Conductor and in 2018 assumed the music directorship. In Santa Fe, he has led productions of Fidelio, La finta giardiniera, Roméo et Juliette, Alcina, Candide and Così fan tutte, as well as concert performances of Strauss’s Four Last Songs with Renée Fleming. Born in Liverpool, he studied at the Royal College of Music, London, and Oxford University.

Some of the many highlights with The English Concert have included international tours of Handel’s Alcina, Ariodante, Theodora, Hercules, Semele, Orlando, Rinaldo and Radamisto; as well as televised performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor and Handel’s Samson for the BBC Proms. More recent projects have included a series of highly successful live-streamed concerts from historic venues in the London area; a staged version of Handel’s Messiah for the Bristol Old Vic directed by Tom Morris, Bach’s Cantatas for Advent and Wayne Eagling’s Remembrance ballet, set to Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day.

Recordings to date with The English Concert include releases for Virgin Classics, Chandos and Harmonia Mundi featuring Elizabeth Watts, David Daniels, Lucy Crowe, Dame Sarah Connolly and Rosemary Joshua as well as a concerto album released on Signum. His discography also includes five recordings with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, among them a collection of Handel opera arias with Renée Fleming (Decca) and Ian Bostridge (EMI), as well as selections from Handel’s Theodora, Serse, and the cantata La Lucrezia with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Avie Records), which was nominated for a Grammy Award. His Gramophone Award-nominated albums also include Sento Amor with David Daniels featuring arias by Gluck, Handel and Mozart (Erato Veritas) and Il tenero momento with Susan Graham featuring arias by Mozart and Gluck (Erato).

Harry Bicket was awarded an OBE in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours.