Sky Arts goes behind the curtain of the world’s most prestigious conducting competition with Making a Maestro

The three-part documentary will air on Sky Arts and streaming service NOW from 22 April 2026

Thursday 2 April 2026

This April, for the first time on British television, Sky Arts will give viewers a glimpse into the most prestigious conducting competition in the world with Making a Maestro. The 3-episode 60-minute series follows 20 of Europe’s finest young conductors as they compete for a life changing prize: to become the assistant conductor of the world-famous London Symphony Orchestra.

Making a Maestro follows the competitors of the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition as they each battle it out, baton to baton, to impress the esteemed judging panel in just fifteen minutes. From 20, the judges select ten to progress to the next round. In round 2, the remaining ten have another 15 minutes to impress, before ten become three.

.After much deliberation, the judges decide on a final three who battle it out for the prize and the competition only intensifies when a very special guest, King Charles III, who has supported the Competition since it started 35 years ago, pays them a visit. Ending on a high, the series concludes with a very special concert performed by the orchestra and conducted by the winner of the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition.

The judges consist of Sir Antonio Pappano (chair of the jury and Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra), composer and conductor Sir James MacMillan, conductors Sian Edwards and Thomas Søndergård, LSO musicians Sarah Quinn (Sub-Principal Second Violin and LSO Chair) and Rachel Gough (Principal Bassoon).

Making A Maestro is produced by Love Monday TV. Kerene Barefield serves as Executive Producer and Naveed Chowdhary-Flatt serves as Executive Producer and Series Producer. Making A Maestro was commissioned by Phil Edgar Jones, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, for Cecile Frot Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios & Chief Content Officer for Sky. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Benedetta Pinelli.

Making a Maestro will air weekly on Sky Arts, Freeview Channel 36 and streaming service NOW from 22 April.

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For more information on Making a Maestro please contact Premier PR:

Mike.thomas@premiercomms.com and James.rutherford@premiercomms.com

The Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition
In 1990, Donatella Flick founded her Conducting Competition to offer much-needed support to young conductors at the start of their careers. She remains at the helm of the Competition working with a small team and in partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra to present the Competition every two years. 

Donatella Flick became aware of the challenges faced by young conductors bridging the gap between conservatoire training and a professional career, the point at which many talented conductors falter or even abandon their conducting ambitions completely, and in 1990 she founded the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition to help address the issue.  

Over thirty years later, and around 300 young conductors have taken part in 17 biennial Competitions in London and there have been 18 winners (in 2000, two conductors took the prize jointly).  

In 1996 a partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra began which has continued to grow ever since. The Finalists are lucky enough to conduct the LSO during all three days of the Competition, and the Orchestra has a collective vote as part of the judging panel. 

Many of the Competition’s winners have developed excellent careers. In 2014, Elim Chan became the first woman to win the Competition and her star has been rising sharply ever since. She was appointed to the Dudamel Fellowship programme with the LA Philharmonic in 2016/17 and in 2018 she became Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 2019 saw her BBC Proms debut with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and she was appointed Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from the 2019/20 season.  

Donatella Flick has always worked hard to ensure that the Competition benefits everyone who takes part, and not only the winners. She achieves this through carefully considered repertoire for each round, and by inviting conductors and musicians of the highest calibre to be on the jury, giving their time for free and bringing with them a wealth of experience and wisdom. 

In 2018 the Competition broadened its reach through live-streaming and the production of an award-winning documentary. The Competition Final was streamed live for the first time, allowing a worldwide audience on Medici TV to experience the Competition at home. 

In 2018 and 2021, Il sogno del podio, a major award-winning documentary about the Competition by was produced by RAI TV, Italy’s national broadcaster. 

London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra believes that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere – from orchestral fans in the concert hall to first-time listeners all over the world.

The LSO was established in 1904 as one of the first orchestras shaped by its musicians. Since then, generations of remarkable talents have built the LSO’s reputation for quality, ambition and a commitment to sharing the joy of music with everyone.

The LSO performs some 70 concerts every year as Resident Orchestra at the Barbican, with its family of artists: Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, and Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas.

The LSO has major artistic residencies in Paris, Tokyo and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and a growing presence across Australasia.

Through LSO Discovery, the LSO’s learning and community programme, 60,000 people each year experience the transformative power of music. The Orchestra’s musicians are at the heart of this unique programme, leading workshops, mentoring bright young talent, and visiting schools, hospitals and community spaces. The home of much of this work is LSO St Luke’s, the LSO’s venue on Old Street. In 2025, following a programme of works, the LSO will open up the venue’s facilities to more people than ever before, with new state-of-the-art recording facilities and dedicated spaces for LSO Discovery.

The LSO’s record label LSO Live is a leader among orchestra-owned labels, bringing to life the excitement of a live performance in a catalogue of over 200 acclaimed recordings, and reaching millions through streaming services and online broadcasts. The LSO has been prolific in the studio since the infancy of orchestral recording, and has made more recordings than any other orchestra – over 2,500 projects to date – across film, video games and bespoke audio collaborations. Through inspiring music, learning programmes and digital innovations, the LSO’s reach extends far beyond the concert hall.