Stephen Mark Darlington (born 21 September 1952) is a British choral director, organist and conductor who served as Director of Music at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, from 1985 to 2018. After retiring from Christ Church, he served as interim director at St John’s College, Cambridge."Interim Director of Music to lead The Choir of St John’s"
7 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023. His brother is the conductor

Jonathan Darlington Jonathan Philip Darlington (born 1956 in Lapworth, England) is a British conductor, Music Director Emeritus of the Vancouver Opera and the former Music Director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He is known for his broad repertoire of both ...

Education and career

After attending

King's School, Worcester The King's School, Worcester is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day school refounded by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Sev ...

, Darlington was an organ scholar at

, in the early 1970s, studying under

Simon Preston Simon John Preston (4 August 1938 – 13 May 2022) was an English organist, conductor and composer who was admired as one of the most important English church musicians of his generation.Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

, where he served for four years before becoming Master of the Music for St Albans Cathedral Choir. At

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

he also directed the International Organ Festival. In 1985 Darlington returned to Christ Church, Oxford, as Director of Music and tutor of music, holding the post for 33 years until his retirement in 2018. In 2021 he became interim Director of Music at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, following the appointment of Andrew Nethsingha as organist of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. He served until 2023.

Concerts and recordings

Darlington has travelled internationally both with the choir and as an organist and conductor, directing, among others, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the

London Mozart Players London Mozart Players (LMP) are a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. LMP are the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom. Since 1989, the orchestra has been Resident Orchestra at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. History Begin ...

, the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...

, the Northern Sinfonia, the Hanover Band, the English String Orchestra and the London Musici. The Christ Church choir sang under his direction with

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Catalan operatic tenor from Spain who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, ...

, James Bowman and others. He also collaborated with contemporary composers including

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 ...

and

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was name ...

. He conducted Goodall's theme music for ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom. It consists of three series, which aired on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2000, and several specials, the most recent of which aired on 23 December 2020. It is set in the fictional Oxfor ...

'' and was featured in Goodall's ''ChoirWorks'' and ''OrganWorks'' series. His recorded works amount to over 60 albums, several of which have won awards and other forms of recognition such as ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'' recommendations.

Awards and recognition

Darlington was Choragus of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and holds a Lambeth Doctorate. He served as President of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

from 2000 to 2002. He is an honorary member of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, a Fellow of the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

and an honorary canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Darlington was appointed a 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

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to music.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, Stephen 1952 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at King's School, Worcester Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 21st-century British male musicians English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 21st-century British conductors (music) British male classical organists English classical organists British cathedral organists 21st-century British organists Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Order of the British Empire