About

Michael Poll is a dynamic conductor whose work spans opera, symphonic repertoire, and contemporary music. Newly appointed Head of Orchestras at the Baltic State Opera, he is increasingly recognised for his compelling musical leadership and stylistic range. Poll trained as a classical guitarist and has performed at prestigious venues including the Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the National Theatre of Panama.

His 2025 album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Barber’s Violin Concerto with Jack Liebeck alongside new works by David Conte and Byron Adams, was featured on the Apple Music Top 100. Marcin Zglinski praised “the conductor’s command of detail—the exceptional clarity and spaciousness of sound … and the finely balanced proportions.”

Poll’s debut guitar recording, 7-String Bach, was described as “masterful” by Gramophone magazine, and Wholenote celebrated his “warm, rich, and full tone.” His interest in new repertoire is reflected in his upcoming album—-again conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra—-featuring works by composer and Chinese pipa performer Gao Hong.

Poll has conducted at Bloomsbury Opera in London, leading new productions of Così fan tutte and Le Nozze di Figaro. During this period, he also served as assistant to Franz Welser-Möst for Salome at the Salzburg Festival. Recent engagements include his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, and in 2025–26 he will conduct Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Carnival of Animals, Carmen, and Głos Potwora in Gdańsk, as well as prepare Dorian Gray—a new work by Elżbieta Sikora with a libretto by Sir David Pountney—for the Poznań State Opera.

He is currently Classical Music Programmer for Lancaster Arts in the UK and previously served as Associate Conductor of Central City Opera in Colorado. From 2014 to 2018, he was Music Director of the Goodensemble Orchestra in London, where he led a gala in honour of Queen Elizabeth, a cycle of Beethoven’s piano concerti, and premieres by Sato Matsui, Joseph Stillwell, David Grahame Taylor, Igor Maia, and Raymond Yiu.

Poll has helped to prepare major works including Wagner’s Meistersinger and Ring, and Verdi’s Requiem, as well as beloved Puccini classics like La Bohème and Madama Butterfly.

Poll studied conducting under Leonid Grin and served as an intern to Barry Wordsworth and Sir Antonio Pappano at the Royal Ballet and Opera. A Fulbright and Marshall Scholar, he holds a BA in music summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and was a visiting student at the Curtis Institute of Music. He also holds degrees from the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poland and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he earned his Doctorate and served as Junior Fellow.

Poll has served on the faculty of the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music and the Polish Guitar Academy, was a fellow of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University. He is also active in the educational initiative SoundingLab, which brings live music into schools in the US and the UK.