Stephen David Layton (born 23 December 1966) is an English conductor.
He was raised in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
, where his father was a church organist. He was a chorister at
Winchester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...
, and subsequently won scholarships to
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and then
King's College, Cambridge
King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
Stephen Cleobury
Sir Stephen John Cleobury ( ; 31 December 1948 – 22 November 2019)
While studying at Cambridge, Layton founded the mixed-voice choir Polyphony in 1986. He was appointed the musical director of the Holst Singers in 1993, replacing
Hilary Davan Wetton
Hilary John Davan Wetton (born 23 December 1943) is a British conducting, conductor.
Biography
He has married three times, in 1964 to Elizabeth Tayler and in 1989 to Alison Kelly. He is married to Professor Tonia Vincent with whom he has one d ...
, who had founded the group in 1978. Layton has been assistant organist at
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral ( ), formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwark, London, near the south bank of the River Thames and close to London Bridge. It is the mother c ...
, and musical director of Wokingham Choral Society. From 1997, he was organist and subsequently director of music at the
Temple Church
The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...
. From 1999 to 2004, he was chief conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir. From 2000 to 2012 he was chief guest conductor of the Danish National Vocal Ensemble. From 2006 to 2023, he was director of music at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
. In November 2009, the
City of London Sinfonia
City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is an English chamber orchestra based in London. CLS is orchestra-in-residence at Opera Holland Park since 2004 and holds a residency at St Paul's Cathedral. CLS also performs regularly across the city of London i ...
announced the appointment of Layton as its second artistic director, effective with the 2010–2011 season, with the title of principal conductor.
Layton has premiered new works and recordings by a number of composers, including
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...
,
Thomas Adès
Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: ''The Tempest (opera), The T ...
,
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi is a Finnish composer of classical music, and a professional translator.
Early life
Mäntyjärvi was born in Turku. He studied musicology, English language and literature and linguistics at the University of Helsinki, gradu ...
and
James MacMillan
Sir James Loy MacMillan, TOSD (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor.
Early life
MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is Jam ...
. His realisation of
John Tavener
Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...
's '' The Veil of the Temple'' was premiered in 2003 at the Temple Church London. It was subsequently performed in 2004 at the Royal Albert Hall during the BBC Proms, and in the Avery Fisher Hall, New York, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.
Stephen Layton's discography on Hyperion ranges from Handel and Bach with original instruments to Arvo Pärt,
Paweł Łukaszewski
Paweł Łukaszewski (born 19 September 1968) is a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. He has won seven Fryderyk Awards. According to David Wordsworth, Łukaszewski is the best-known Polish composer of his generation in and out of P ...
, Lauridsen, Whitacre and
Ēriks Ešenvalds
Ēriks Ešenvalds (born 26 January 1977) is a Latvians, Latvian composer, mainly of choral music. From 2011 to 2013 he was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
Biography
Ērik ...
. Recordings with Polyphony include
Gabriel Jackson Gabriel Jackson may refer to:
* Gabriel Jackson (composer)
Gabriel Jackson (born 1962 in Hamilton, Bermuda) is an English people, English composer. He is a three-time winner of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors British Comp ...
, Paweł Łukaszewski,
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...
, John Tavener, and Ẽriks Ešenvalds. With the Trinity College Choir, a notable recording is of work by the Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, including the specially written Trinity Service (2019).
He has received two Gramophone Awards in the UK and the
Diapason d'Or
The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...
in France, the Echo Deutscher Musikpreis in Germany, the Compact Award in Spain, and four Grammy nominations in the USA.
Layton was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) in the
2020 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...