Rainer Hersch – Keynote Speaker

Rainer Hersch is a conductor, pianist, comedian and broadcaster who has performed in over thirty countries across the globe and worked with hundreds of orchestras from the St Petersburg Philharmonic to the Tasmanian Symphony. He has fans all over the world – YouTube videos of his routines have had over 65M views to date.

Rainer’s first musical studies were at the piano, a student of Norma Fisher, continuing for three years as a conductor at Blackheath Conservatory with Denise Ham and master classes with George Hurst at the Royal Academy of Music. Over four years, he also made a special study of the music of Johann Strauss with Afred Eschwé at the Volksoper in Vienna.

Rainer Hersch graduated from Lancaster University in 1985 and started his working life in concert agencies, managing some of the great artists of the world. At the same time, he developed a hobby – performing stand-up comedy on the London circuit. Short, unpaid slots led to longer, paid appearances which gradually developed into a parallel career. In time, Rainer realised that this was his true vocation and gave up his last straight musical job, Touring Manager of the London Festival Orchestra, to enter the world of professional comedy.

Almost thirty years later, this unique training has kept him in constant demand – combining laughter with music. In addition to conducting orchestras around the globe, he has built up a considerable reputation as a broadcaster and presenter in the UK for the BBC and Classic FM. He delights his audiences with entertainments that are witty, interactive and fun. These range from classical themed sets with his Orkestra, corrupting well known works with hilarious effect, to pop singalongs based on classic rock hits. For a long list of corporate clients, he presents modules on leadership and runs team building exercises.

Born in England to a German father, Rainer Hersch is based in London where he lives with his German wife, Connie. He holds both British and German nationality and speaks fluent English, German, Spanish and French.