Simon Carrington (born 1942) is an English conductor, singer and

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

player. He was a founding member and member for 25 years of the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning vocal ensemble

the King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the ...

; he subsequently worked for 15 years in the United States and now divides his time between London and southwest France. He speaks French and German and holds British and American citizenship. He is father of the British "music comedian" and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

player Rebecca Carrington.

Early life

Carrington was born in the county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. He was a chorister at

Christ Church Cathedral School Christ Church Cathedral School is an independent preparatory school for boys in Oxford, England. It is one of three choral foundation schools in the city and educates choristers of Christ Church Cathedral, and the Chapels of Worcester College ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, earned a music

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

the King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...

, and then read English and music at

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 ...

, as a

choral scholar {{Short description, Student who receives a scholarship for singing in a choir A choral scholar is a student at either a university or a private school who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir. This is ...

alongside most of the original

King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella Choir, vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College, Cambridge, King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six Choir of King's College, Cambridge, chor ...

. He completed his master's degree in 1965 and then qualified as a teacher at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

Career

From 1968 to 1993, Carrington was a member and co-director of

. During this time he was also a freelance double bass player and was regularly invited as a guest performer, in particular with the

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...

and the Monteverdi Orchestra. He is also the (uncredited) singer in the end credits of the first series of the 1983 BBC sitcom ''

The Black Adder ''The Black Adder'' is the first series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, directed by Martin Shardlow and produced by John Lloyd. The series was originally aired on BBC1 from 15 June 1983 to 20 Ju ...

''. Carrington moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1994 and accepted a position at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

where he served as Director of Choral Activities, professor, and artist in residence. After Kansas, he became Director of Choral Activities at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He became professor of conducting at the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a joi ...

in 2003 and founded the

Yale Schola Cantorum The Yale Schola Cantorum, under the direction of principal conductoDavid Hill is an internationally renowned chamber choir that performs regularly in concert and for occasional choral services throughout the academic year. Supported by the Yale Ins ...

which he directed for six years. He was appointed a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 2009 and now regularly conducts concerts, workshops and masterclasses around the world.

Personal life

He divides his time between southwest England and southwest France where he lives with Hilary, his wife, a professional pianist. Their daughter

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

, lives in Berlin, and their singer-songwriter son, James, lives in Los Angeles.

References

External links

Official website

Simon Carrington Chamber Singers website

The King's Singers website

Sarteano Chamber Choir Festival and Choral Workshop

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110727184950/http://www.princetonfestival.org/ChoralWorkshop.html Princeton Festival Choral Workshop {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrington, Simon Living people Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Christ Church Cathedral School English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) English double-bassists British male double-bassists English expatriate musicians in the United States People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Yale School of Music faculty 1942 births Musicians from Kent 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British double-bassists 21st-century British male musicians Naxos Records artists Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge