Ian Watson, Director of Music at St. Paul's Cathedral, Worcester, is a world-renowned conductor and performer. Ian is the Founder and Director of the St. Paul's Music Festival and Artistic Director of the acclaimed period-instrument ensemble, Arcadia Players, Karlstad Baroque, Sweden, and the Worcester Collegium. Ian is a prominent figure at the highest levels of the international music scene, and played an important role in the British Baroque revival which brought such renowned orchestras into prominence as the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the English Chamber Orchestra, the English Baroque Soloists, the Monteverdi Choir and The Sixteen - all with whom he has performed as organist, harpsichordist, solo pianist and/or director. Ian's versatility is revealed in the equal ease with which he performs the roles of orchestral conductor, choir director, organist, harpsichordist, pianist, teacher and public speaker.

Among Ian's many prestigious conducting engagements are: Monteverdi's Vespers at St. James's Palace in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen; Bach's B Minor Mass at the Rheingau Festival with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra and Chorus; the opening concerts of the newly renovated Châtelet Theater in Paris with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Christmas Eve at the Royal Albert Hall with the Mozart Festival Orchestra; Nigel Kennedy tour and video with the English Chamber Orchestra; and assistant conductor to Sir John Eliot Gardiner in the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. 

Ian has been the leading keyboard player with most of the major English ensembles, with whom he toured and recorded extensively, as well as being featured on numerous film soundtracks and broadcasts including Amadeus, Mr. Holland's Opus and Restoration. In the field of opera, Ian has worked at Glyndebourne, and conducted productions throughout England, and internationally at Bremen Opera, Giessen Opera, the Komische Opera, Berlin, and as a Principal Conductor with the Darmstadt State Opera in Germany.

Ian was born in England in the Buckinghamshire village of Wooburn Common. He won a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London, at the age of 14, where he won all the prizes for organ performance and others for piano accompaniment. Ian also received the coveted Recital Diploma, the highest award for performance excellence. As a distinguished graduate, he was honored in 1993, with an Associateship of the Royal Academy of Music, in recognition of his services to music. Ian also has a Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. His first organ appointment was at St. Margaret's, Westminster Abbey, at the age of 19, a position he held for ten years. Ian also held a number of prestigious positions in London including Organist of St. Marylebone Parish church, and Music Director of the historic Christopher Wren Church, St. James's Piccadilly. Ian is now committed to enriching the cultural life of his new home in Massachusetts, his inspiration for founding the St. Paul's Music Festival.