Simon Halsey,

CBE 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 ...

(born 8 March 1958) is an English choral conductor. He is the chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (

CBSO Chorus The CBSO Chorus is a choir, chorus based in Birmingham, England. Description It was founded in 1973 as the CBSO Chorus. Simon Halsey has served as Chorus Director since 1983. Between 1995 and 2009 was known officially as The City of Birmingham S ...

), a position he has held since 1983, and has been chorus director of the

London Symphony Chorus The London Symphony Chorus (abbreviated to LSC) is a large symphonic concert choir based in London, UK, consisting of over 150 amateur singers, and is one of the major symphony choruses of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1966 as the '' ...

since 2012. He is also artistic director of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

Youth Choral Programme and the director of the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

Youth Choir, and conductor laureate of the

Berlin Radio Choir The Rundfunkchor Berlin (Berlin Radio Choir) is a professional German classical choir founded in 1925. In the 1950s the choir was divided into the Berliner Solistenvereinigung and the Großer Chor des Berliner Rundfunks. These were united as Run ...

. He is professor and director of choral activities at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Early career

Born in London, Halsey sang in the choirs of both

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He studied conducting at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

in London. In 1987, he founded the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (since 2001 the

Birmingham Opera Company Birmingham Opera Company is a professional opera company based in Birmingham, England, that specialises in innovative and avant-garde productions of the operatic repertoire, often in unusual venues. History The company was founded by leading in ...

) with leading international opera director

Graham Vick Sir Graham Vick (30 December 1953 – 17 July 2021) was an English opera director known for his experimental and revisionist stagings of traditional and modern operas. He worked in many of the world's leading opera houses and was artistic di ...

. In addition, he was artistic director and founder of the professional choir European Voices, and principal conductor, choral programme, for the

Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. It also gave mont ...

from 2004 until 2012. He founded the City of Birmingham Youth Chorus in 1995. His position with the CBSO Chorus brings him into regular contact with the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its adminis ...

, including as conductor of the annual Christmas concerts. Halsey served as chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir () from 1997 to 2008. He was international chair of choral conducting of the

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama () is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It has three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall, and ...

from 2008 until 2014.

Current positions

Since 1983, Halsey has been the chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus. Halsey is currently artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Youth Choral Programme and the director of the

Youth Choir; he has held both these positions since 2012. From 2001 to 2015, he also served as chief conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Radio Choir (Rundfunkchor Berlin). He gave his last concert in this role on 31 May 2015, his replacement being Dutch conductor . Halsey continues his association with the choir under the title of Conductor Laureate. Since August 2012 he has been chorus director of the

. Since season 2016–2017 he is the artistic director of the chorusses of

Palau de la Música Catalana Palau de la Música Catalana (, ) is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan ''modernisme, modernista'' style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for Orfeó Català, a ...

, in Barcelona, and the Chorus Master of

Orfeó Català The Orfeó Català is a choral society based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, which was founded in 1891 by Lluís Millet and Amadeu Vives.William H. Robinson, Jordi Falgàs, Carmen Belen Lord Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí ...

. He was involved in the BBC Proms in 2012–2015, preparing choirs for performances of Michael Tippett's ''

A Child of Our Time ''A Child of Our Time'' is a secular oratorio by the British composer Michael Tippett, who also wrote the libretto. Composed between 1939 and 1941, it was first performed at the Adelphi Theatre, London, on 19 March 1944. The work was inspired b ...

'' (2012), Ralph Vaughan Williams' ''

A Sea Symphony ''A Sea Symphony'' is an hour-long work for soprano, baritone, chorus and large orchestra written by Ralph Vaughan Williams between 1903 and 1909. The first and longest of his nine symphonies, it was first performed at the Leeds Festival i ...

'', Britten's ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a choral and orchestral composition by Benjamin Britten, composed mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, in the Englis ...

'' and Elgar's ''

The Dream of Gerontius ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Opus number, Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from The Dream of Gerontius (poem), the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man' ...

''. Other positions include artistic advisor of

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF) is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist and conductor Justus Fr ...

Choir Academy (since 2014), professor and director of Choral Activities, University of Birmingham (since 2012), and international chair of choral conducting for the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Halsey has worked with orchestras and choirs all over the world. He has also conducted projects as diverse as Handel's ''Messiah'' with the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...

and Fauré's

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

with the CBSO Chorus and the

Hong Kong Philharmonic The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra () is a symphony orchestra based in Hong Kong. Colloquially referred to as the HKPO or HKPhil (), the orchestra was first established in 1947 as an amateur orchestra under the name Sino-British Orchestra (), ...

. With the

, he worked on a performance of Britten's ''

Noye's Fludde ''Noye's Fludde'' is a one-act opera by the British composer Benjamin Britten, intended primarily for amateur performers, particularly children. First performed on 18 June 1958 at that year's Aldeburgh Festival, it is based on the 15th-centu ...

'', for the tenth anniversary of Berlin Phil Education. He is also currently the artistic director for Crowd Out, a massive work for chorus composed by David Lang. He has collaborated with director

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches ...

for several

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s. Halsey has also been involved with numerous recordings, including a live recording of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's 9th Symphony with the CBSO Chorus and the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

, under

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rat ...

. In 2006 he conducted the CBSO Chorus in their first completely choral recording, an album of English Choral Favourites. In addition, Halsey is consultant editor on

Faber Music Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications. Faber Music has close relations with ...

's Choral Programme Series of sheet music.

Awards

Halsey has won numerous awards, including three Grammys for Best Choral Performance. One in 2008 for a recording of Brahms' ''

Ein Deutsches Requiem ''A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures'', Op. 45 () by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, and soprano and baritone soloists, composed between 1865 and 1868. It comprises seven movements, which together l ...

'', by the Berlin Radio Choir and the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Simon Rattle. Another in 2009 for Stravinsky's ''

Symphony of Psalms The ''Symphony of Psalms'' is a choral symphony in three movements composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1930 during his neoclassical period. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orch ...

'', Symphony in C and

Symphony in Three Movements The ''Symphony in Three Movements'' is a work by Russian expatriate composer Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky wrote the symphony from 1942–45 on commission by the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was premiered by the New York Philha ...

, by the Berlin Radio Choir, Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle. His third Grammy was in 2011 for Saariaho's '' L'Amour de loin'', by the Berlin Radio Choir and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, conducted by

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (GMD) of the Hamburg State Opera (until 2025). Early life and education Nagano was born in Berkeley, ...

. He has also obtained a number of other awards for his work, including a

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 ...

from '' Diapason'' magazine in France; a ''

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...

'' award, and has won several German

Echo Klassik The Echo Klassik, often stylized as ECHO Klassik, was Germany's major classical music award in 22 categories. The award, presented by the , was held annually, usually in October or September, separate from its parent award, the Echo Music Prize ...

awards. Halsey was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

) in 2010, and has three honorary doctorates, from

Warwick University The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of a ...

, the

University of Central England Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic in 1971 and gained university status in ...

and

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. In March 2015 he was awarded the 2014 Queen's Medal for Music. Halsey was appointed

Commander 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 ...

(CBE) in the 2015

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

References

External links

* ,

, 2010
Profile and biography
Intermusica

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halsey, Simon 1958 births Alumni of the Royal College of Music English choral conductors English male conductors (music) Living people Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Academics of the University of Birmingham Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century English conductors (music) 21st-century English male musicians Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge Choristers of New College, Oxford