Stephen Layton
With a strikingly individual musicianship, and a galvanising eloquence in performance, Stephen Layton has established himself in recent years as one of Britain's most admired conductors. His interpretations of Bach and Handel have been heard from the Sydney Opera House to the Concertgebouw, and with orchestras such as the Academy of Ancient Music and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to the English National Opera, London Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
As Director of Music at the Temple Church, his bold realisation of Tavener's epic all-night vigil, The Veil of the Temple, met with acclaim at their premiere performances in London and at New York's Lincoln Center. Other important composer collaborations, with Polyphony, have included premiere performances and recordings of music by Arvo Part, James MacMillan, Thomas Ades, Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre.
A former Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir, Layton now holds the positions of Chief Guest Conductor of the Danish Radio Choir, Director of Polyphony, Artistic Director of the Holst Singers and Director of Music at Trinity College Cambridge. He works widely as a guest conductor of orchestras of international renown, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia and at English National Opera, where he conducted Deborah Warner’s renowned staging of Bach’s St John Passion. Layton has a close relationship with the Britten Sinfonia with whom he records a wide range of repertoire, including Handel, Bruckner, Poulenc and Stravinsky. His US career is gathering momentum, with debuts with the orchestras of Philadelphia and Minnesota, whilst Stephen was honoured to be nominated for Grammy Awards in both 2006 and 2007, for his Hyperion recordings of Whitacre and Lauridsen respectively.
Layton’s eclectic and award-winning discography includes music by Adès, Britten, Cornelius, Grainger, Gretchaninov, Holst, MacMillan, Pärt, Rutter, Schnittke, Tavener, Walton, Lauridsen and Whitacre. In 2001 his Hyperion recording of music by Britten received a Gramophone Award and the Diapason d’Or in France for best choral disc of the year. In the US, Stephen was nominated for Grammy Awards in both 2006 and 2007 for his Hyperion recordings of Whitacre and Lauridsen respectively.
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Email: Sarah Trelawny
