Paul Hughes is a graduate of Trinity College of Music, where he studied piano, composition and conducting. He joined the BBC in 1999 and was Director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and of the BBC Singers for 23 years.

As a former Governor of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Paul has a passion for discovering and nurturing the next generation of musicians and audiences and is a guest lecturer at several of the UK’s leading conservatoires. He is the recipient of honorary membership from Trinity College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Royal College of Music and has recently been honoured by the Finnish government with the award of Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion, for services to Finnish music and musicians.