Neil Ferris graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in 1998 where he specialised in performance and in 2003 gained a Master's degree in Performance Studies at the Royal College of Music, where he specialised in choral conducting.

As a violinist Neil studied with Pearl Mace, Judith Young and ultimately Julian Cummings and was awarded an ARCM in violin performing in 1997. He has been conductor of Royal Holloway Chamber Orchestra since 1999, and has made guest appearances with Midland Sinfonia and the City of Southampton Orchestra. Other orchestras he has worked with include the Salomon Orchestra, Welsh Chamber Players, Brandenburg Sinfonia, Southern Pro Musica and the Chameleon Arts Orchestra.

Neil is much in demand as a choral conductor and workshop leader; he has worked as conducting tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire, the University of Southampton and Roehampton University. He is currently a visiting tutor in choral conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, teaching on the new MA programme in Choral Conducting alongside Adrian Partington and Simon Halsey. Neil also tutors on the Association of British Choral Directors national course and leads educational workshops for ABCD and SingUp. In the summer of 2008 he was a guest tutor for the Association of Irish Choirs national summer course. Neil is also a member of the conducting staff at the Royal College of Music Junior Department.

Neil is Music Director of Cardiff Polyphonic Choir, who in recent years have broadcast for BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4. He is also the new Music Director of Wimbledon Choral Society and conducts Concordia Voices, a chamber choir based in London that has performed to critical acclaim in venues including St John's, Smith Square and Christ Church, Spitalfields. Neil also works regularly as a guest conductor with other choirs; he has worked with Birmingham Bach Choir, Whitehall Choir (London), Kent Youth Choir and the award-winning Joyful Company of Singers. Neil has been guest conductor of the chorus of Filarmonica Arad, Romania, since 2005.

Neil is fortunate to have benefited from the expertise of Paul Spicer at the RCM and has studied at the Canford Summer School of Music conducting course under George Hurst. As a result of the BBC Singers Conductor Fellowship auditions for 2004 he was awarded a masterclass with the BBC Singers and its chief conductor, Stephen Cleobury.