Described in 2011 by International Record Review as “one of the most gifted younger British conductors”, Stephen Bell studied at the Royal College of Music under the renowned conductor Norman Del Mar, and now finds himself increasingly in demand with a wide variety of European orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, National Symphony Orchestra (RTÉ), Hallé, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, ERT National Symphonic Orchestra (Athens), Brighton Philharmonic and Ulster Orchestras. A progressively challenging conducting schedule now affords Stephen the opportunity to conduct both at home and abroad, in venues such as London, Istanbul, Toronto and Athens.
From 2005 to 2010, Stephen was invited to conduct the annual televised BBC Proms in the Park with the BBC Philharmonic, and since 2011, has appeared every year on the live TV broadcasts of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Last Night of the Proms celebrations. Back in 2008, the hugely successful Doctor Who Prom represented his Royal Albert Hall Proms début, and subsequently he has returned to the BBC Proms in 2012 conducting the Northern Sinfonia, in 2014 conducting the BBC Philharmonic for two televised Proms. The Folk Prom, broadcast on BBC4 in the 2018 season, marked his first Prom with the BBC Concert Orchestra, and returned to conduct them at the 2019 Proms.