About Cavatina
Young musicians. Shared ambition.
Cavatina Orchestra brings together exceptional young musicians to explore ambitious repertoire at a formative stage in their careers. Founded by Max Todes in 2016, when he was fifteen, the orchestra combines artistic development with a belief that music can bring people together.
Its first major project was a three-night production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The inaugural orchestral concert followed in 2018, pairing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Sibelius’s First Symphony.
Since then, Cavatina has performed Haydn’s The Creation at Guildford Cathedral and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony at Smith Square Hall, alongside works by Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Beethoven. Its programmes have also championed new music, including a world premiere by BBC Young Composer winner Gregory May.
Max Todes
Founder & Artistic Director
British conductor Max Todes founded Cavatina to give talented young musicians the opportunity to explore major orchestral works together.
A former Temple Church chorister, singer and cellist, he read Music at St John’s College, Cambridge, as a choral scholar. As a Cambridge Conducting Scholar he worked with Martyn Brabbins, Jac van Steen and Ben Glassberg.
He went on to study orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Brabbins and Michael Bawtree, working with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Hebrides Ensemble.
In 2025, Max conducted the City of Carlisle Orchestra and assisted Jac van Steen with the Ulster Youth Orchestra in Belfast and at Berlin’s Konzerthaus. He now studies on the National Master in Orchestral Conducting in the Netherlands, on a full scholarship, with Jac van Steen and Ed Spanjaard.
Music and community
Cavatina’s purpose reaches beyond the concert platform. Following the pandemic, the orchestra gave several performances in London to bring musicians and audiences together again.
The inaugural Cavatina Festival continued that spirit in Frome and Mells from 22–25 September 2026. Across three programmes, choral and orchestral music brought together works from the Renaissance to the present day.
Alongside its commitment to emerging orchestral musicians, Cavatina has collaborated with soloists including Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Thomas Kelly, Martyn Jackson and David Campbell.