Lydia Connolly

The story so far…

Lydia is an independent consultant focused on mentoring artists and artist managers at all career stages across the international classical music industry.  Her aim is to help each individual equip themself and navigate a fast-changing landscape.

Since July 2024 Lydia has worked in this capacity with a wide range of individual instrumentalists, conductors, singers and composers – also theatre directors and dancers as well as arts leaders and artist managers.  She has been invited to mentor student groups at leading conservatoires including London’s Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and New England Conservatory.  Lydia has additionally collaborated with a number of international young artist support organisations including Classeek, Genesis Sixteen, Hastings International Piano, Live Music Now Scotland, Music Estonia and Philip Loubser Foundation.

During more than thirty years previously as Board Director with HarrisonParrott, Lydia acted as worldwide general manager for a prestigious roster of instrumentalists, conductors and composers and headed up the company’s artist management department.  She was Head of Inclusion and Access with HP and continues as a trustee of the HarrisonParrott Foundation. 

Lydia was the first woman to study Music as an undergraduate at New College, Oxford.  She is a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music (violin) and an alumna of the Strategic Leadership Programme at Saïd Business School Oxford as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. 

Lydia has been a board member of the International Artist Managers’ Association and a long-standing member of the IAMA Broadcasting and Media Committee. She is regularly invited to speak at industry conferences and has experience as an international competition juror as well as leading seminars and workshops worldwide.