A busy man is Stanley Dodds.

About to take up his post as Chief Conductor of Sydney Youth Orchestras (SYO) for the 2024 season, he’s currently on tour with the Berlin Philharmonic in in Japan – which is where we managed to pin him down for a wide-ranging chat on his journey to the conductor’s podium, the great conductors who have influenced his approach, and what he hopes to bring to one of Australia’s crucibles of young orchestral talent.


Stanley Dodds. Photo © Peter Rigaud

As a young violinist, did you have one eye on the conductor thinking, ‘one day, that’s going to be me?’

I don’t think of becoming a conductor as something predestined in any way. My journey was… what’s a way to describe it? Circumspect.

I remember playing a bit in an opera orchestra in Adelaide when I was still at school, which I enjoyed immensely and my contact with conductors in that setting was very positive. We had some good conductors around that time, particularly Andrew Greene. It made me realise how essential the conductor’s role was.

You were studying and playing in Europe in your teens....