English conductor George Vass studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music; he made his professional conducting debut at St John's Smith Square, London in 1979. As artistic director of the Regent Sinfonia of London, he appeared at many of the United Kingdom's premier concert halls and festivals. As a guest conductor he has worked with a wide variety of groups including the Ulster Orchestra, Amsterdams Promenade Orkest, Konzertensemble Salzburg, Joyful Company of Singers, London Mozart Players, Malmo Opera Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Schola Cantorum of Oxford and Oxford Orchestra da Camera. He has also broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and Channel 4 television, and in 1999 made his debut at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

His first commercial recording was well received, prompting Gramophone to comment: 'George Vass shows himself an honest, thoroughly musical commentator ... phrases are always shapely and dynamics scrupulously adhered to'. His recording of Stephen Dodgson's Concertino for two guitars and string orchestra was chosen as Gramophone magazine's Editor's Choice in the March 2003, in which John Duarte wrote: 'In every respect the performances and recordings are of the highest quality ... This is a landmark recording ...' More recently Ivan March, again in Gramophone, commented on Vass's recording of works by Cecilia McDowall: 'Performances here are immaculate, full of life, and above all consistently reveal the composer's imaginative resource.' His rapidly growing discography includes a series of choral and orchestral works by Cecilia McDowall, two CDs of orchestral music by Sir Donald Tovey, a recording of British viola concertos accompanying Sarah-Jane Bradley and a disc of vocal and orchestral music by David Matthews.

George Vass has held the post of artistic director to the Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts since 1992, described by Roderic Dunnett of The Independent as having '... the pulse of contemporary music. It commissions intelligently, and constitutes one of the most satisfying of all summer music events'. In 2004, he was appointed artistic director of the highly regarded Hampstead and Highgate Festival, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2008. George Vass is founder artistic director of Orchestra Nova and currently serves the Bushey Symphony Orchestra, City of Canterbury Chamber Choir and St Albans Choral Society as music director.

In his dual career as conductor and festival director, George Vass maintains a strong interest in the performance and promotion of contemporary music. Over the last fifteen years he has commissioned and premiered a variety of new works from many leading composers including David Matthews, John McCabe, Cecilia McDowall, Rhian Samuel, Hilary Tann, Adrian Williams, Ian Wilson and Hugh Wood. George Vass is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.