Photo: Keith Saunders
Stephen Layton
Representation: General Management
"Layton’s performances inspire the soul as they break the heart with their intense beauty."
American Record Guide
Stephen Layton succeeded the late Richard Hickox as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia in September 2010. Founder and Director of Polyphony, Layton is also Chief Guest Conductor of the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Music Director of Holst Singers and in 2006 was made a Fellow and Director of Music of Trinity College, Cambridge. His former posts include Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Kammerkoor and Director of Music at the Temple Church in London.
Layton guest conducts widely and has worked extensively with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He also collaborates regularly with the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia, with whom he has recorded a wide range of repertoire including Handel, Bruckner, Poulenc and Stravinsky.
Layton’s recent engagements include dates with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Estonian Philharmonic Choir and the Latvian Radio Choir. Highlights of the 2010/11 season included Layton’s debut with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra; performances at the Cartagena Festival Colombia and at the BBC Proms with the City of London Sinfonia; performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Hallé Orchestra; as well as directing a new vocal festival, Voices Now, at the Roundhouse, London. Dates in the 2011/12 diary include a tour and recording period with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Polyphony, with soloists including Carolyn Sampson and Ian Bostridge; a Nicholas Maw celebration with the City of London Sinfonia, at London’s Southbank Centre; a performance with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra; and a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. Layton will also be conducting the St John Passion at Melbourne Recital Centre, Australia, as well as working with Die Konzertisten and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong on an all-baroque programme.
A champion of new music, Layton has premiered new repertoire by many composers, including Jackson, Tormis and Lauridsen and, more recently, by the young Latvian composer, Eriks Esenvalds. Layton’s bold realisation of Sir John Tavener's epic seven-hour vigil The Veil of the Temple, a new departure in British choral music, met with outstanding acclaim both in London and in New York.
Stephen Layton’s eclectic discography encompasses a vast range of repertoire, composers and genres. In 2001 his Hyperion recording of Britten’s Sacred & Profane received a Gramophone Award and the Diapason d’Or in France for best choral disc of the year. In the US, Layton was nominated for Grammy Awards in both 2006 and 2007 for his Hyperion recordings of Whitacre and Lauridsen respectively. Layton’s Hyperion recording of Tormis’ Songs with the Holst Singers received the Spanish CD Compact Award 2009 in the choral music category. In 2009 Layton’s live recording of Handel’s Messiah with Polyphony and Britten Sinfonia (recorded at the annual St. John’s, Smith Square performance in 2008) was released to great critical acclaim. Last season, Hyperion released IKON II, a survey of Orthodox Church music, recorded by Layton and the Holst Singers, and Eriks Esenvalds’ Passion and Resurrection, recorded by Layton, Polyphony and Britten Sinfonia, both to critical acclaim. Layton’s latest disc, an exploration of little known American a cappella repertoire with Trinity College Choir Cambridge, has given Layton his third Grammy nomination to date.
“…the effect is nothing short of electrifying..."
Gramophone
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Email: Kayleigh McGowan
