BIO

Natalie Murray Beale is an Australian conductor and music director whose work is driven by a deep commitment to storytelling. She conducts internationally with some of the world's leading opera companies and orchestras.

Her debut at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden was praised by The Financial Times as “expertly conducted” and described by The Stage as “the defining work of art of the Covid period.” She was the seventh woman to conduct on the Royal Opera House main stage in its nearly 300-year history. Further operatic engagements include Theater Bonn, English National Opera, Croatian National Theatre Zagreb, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Opera Holland Park, New Zealand Opera, and Opera Australia, where she recently conducted a new production of Carmen.

Alongside core repertoire, Natalie is a passionate advocate for new music and has conducted world or stage premieres by composers including John Adams, Missy Mazzoli, Anna Meredith, Jessie Montgomery, Joby Talbot and Anna Thorvaldsdóttir.

From 2016–2020, she served as Creative Director of Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells, leading the company’s artistic programming, commissioning, partnerships and emerging artist initiatives.

Natalie has conducted many major orchestras worldwide, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Symphony Nova Scotia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, Auckland Philharmonia, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of London.

She is also active in the recording studio. Her recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and cellist Sophie Kauer for Deutsche Grammophon, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Charts. In 2025, Natalie was honoured to conduct for the re-opening of Studio One at Abbey Road Studios and has worked on film and video game scores, including BAFTA-nominated productions.

Natalie was Music Consultant and Conducting Supervisor for the multi-award-winning feature film TÁR, coaching Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and working closely with writer-director Todd Field. The film received six Academy Award nominations, as well as BAFTA and Golden Globe awards and the Volpi Cup for Blanchett. Further screen work includes The History of Sound, working with Josh O’Connor, and The Choral (2025), where she served as Music Director and coach to Ralph Fiennes.

After training at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the National Opera Studio in London, Natalie continued her conducting studies with Jorma Panula. She began her career on the music staff of Welsh National Opera, later serving as Guest Chorus Director of the London Symphony Chorus, collaborating with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Sir Colin Davis, Xian Zhang and Daniele Gatti. She gained further experience at major European opera houses and festivals such as the Opéra national de Paris, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Wiener Festwochen, assisting conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ingo Metzmacher and Jérémie Rhorer.

Natalie was selected for The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors and is a recipient of a BBC Performing Arts Fund Fellowship, mentored by Esa-Pekka Salonen, with whom she has worked as Assistant Conductor on many symphonic, operatic and dance music projects.

A frequent speaker and panellist, she has appeared for BBC World Service Proms broadcasts, Classical:NEXT, Opera Europa and the Dallas Symphony Women in Classical Music Symposium, and has presented Inside Music for BBC Radio 3. She has served as a juror for the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition, the Ivors Composer Awards, the ORA Composer Awards and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Gold Medal. Natalie has also been selected for the Aix-en-Provence Women Opera Makers programme, mentored for the Aix Académie, and serves as Professor at the Royal College of Music.