Robert Ames (1985) is the co-conductor of the London Contemporary Orchestra. He can be found conducting them in an eclectic range of venues from Oval Space in East London through to the hallowed surroundings of London’s great concert halls. Although classical music is central to Ames, he also works with a wide range of artists from Fashion designer Vivien Westwood to Ron Arad, Frank Ocean, DJ Shadow or Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. His work is as likely to take in sessions at Abbey Road, the National Theatre or working in the film studio on projects such as John Maclean’s Sundance Flim Festival award winning Slow West or premiering new works by Terry Riley. Ames is also much in demand as a viola player premiering many solo and chamber works by leading composers of his generation. When Ames set up the London Contemporary Orchestra with fellow conductor Hugh Brunt in 2008, his mission was to ‘think very differently about what people want to listen to’. This led to LCO winning the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Ensemble award in 2015. There are no borders, frontiers or barriers in his own tastes, which are likely to range from Actress to Adès, Foals to Feldman or Couperin to Cage.