Melvin Tay is a versatile Singaporean conductor based in Manchester, UK. He regularly collaborates with a wide range of ensembles, spanning diverse musical genres. These include the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Northern Ballet Sinfonia, London Voices, National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and Orchestral Qawwali Project (OQP), among others. He was awarded the Special Prize at the 2nd International Conducting Competition in Brescia. Currently, he serves as Music Director of Northern Film Orchestra (NFO) and Westmorland Orchestra, and is the Artistic Director of Leeds Haydn Players.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Melvin has conducted numerous notable premieres, including the recording of Rushil Ranjan’s music for the Aakash Odedra Company’s production of Songs of the Bulbul which premiere at Edinburgh International Festival to critical acclaim, and the world premiere of Shikwa—the first-ever symphonic interpretation of Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s legendary Urdu poem—with Manchester Camerata at Bradford Literature Festival. His work with the BBC Philharmonic includes recordings for BBC Radio 3, Blue Peter, and a new musical by Theo Jamieson and Simon Pitts for BBC World Service. As a regular conductor for OQP performing at venues across the world, Melvin plays a pivotal role in bridging the two musical worlds of Qawwali and Western classical music through his meticulous and thoughtful approach. With NFO, he has led the UK premiere of Michael Shapiro’s Frankenstein alongside the 1931 film and conducted sessions for composers such as Dom Jones, Louie Taylor, and Jeff Nang. Additionally, he conducted the recording of Panopticon by David Fennessy with Psappha and the Hebrides Ensemble for NMC Recordings. He was also the conductor of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group NEXT between 2021 and 2023.

On the opera stage, Melvin made his Singapore debut conducting a double bill of Menotti’s The Telephone and his own 65-minute chamber arrangement of Puccini’s La Bohème. He also served as Assistant Conductor for the premiere of Adam Gorb's The Path to Heaven and has led productions of Verdi’s La Traviata and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with OperaViva.

In addition to his conducting work, Melvin is a Tutor in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and its Junior school. He has also led conducting workshops for the Royal Air Force Band Service and the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company. As a team member of ConductIT, an Erasmus+ funded platform, Melvin plays a key role in developing high-quality educational resources for conductors of all levels.