Jeffrey Skidmore
Jeffrey Skidmore is a British choral conductor, music educator, and founder of the Ex Cathedra early music ensembles. He is a champion for reviving forgotten and neglected choral works of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras.
Skidmore was born in 1951 in Birmingham, England, into a non-musical family. As a boy he was inspired by the sounds of King's College Choir, Cambridge on the radio, and he learned several instruments including the violin, trumpet, and recorder. Later, he took piano, organ, and singing lessons, and he served as a chorister at St. Francis' Church in Bourneville. He moved with his family to the United States when he was 16 years old, but he returned to the U.K. and lived with friends while he finished his schooling. In the following year, he joined the Birmingham Cathedral Choir and became a student of Roy Massey, who was the chorus master and organist. Massey encouraged Skidmore to audition for the Magdalen College in Oxford, where he received a choral scholarship. There, he studied with Bernard Rose and David Wulstan, and when he was 18 he founded the chorus Ex Cathedra, which at that time included Emma Kirkby, Paul Elliot, David James, and others.
After Skidmore graduated from Oxford in 1974, he returned to Birmingham and joined the Lichfield Cathedral Choir, and he also began teaching at the John Willmott School in Sutton Coldfield. In the mid-'80s, Skidmore formed the Ex Cathedra Baroque Ensemble, and the Ex Cathedra Consort, and in 1991 he released the album Vivaldi: Vespers. He left his teaching position in 1994 so he could focus on directing the Ex Cathedra ensembles, and he recorded De Lalande: Regina Coeli; De Profundis; Cantate Domino, Sir Christèmas: Carols Old and New, and Orlande de Lassus: Sacred Choral Music; Missa ad Imitationem Vinum Bonum. Skidmore traveled to Mexico, Bolivia, and Brazil to research the early music of those regions, and in 2003 he released New World Symphonies: Baroque Music from Latin America. He is also interested in new music, and he regularly commissions new pieces for Ex Cathedra. James MacMillan, Sally Beamish, and Karlheinz Stockhausen have composed for the ensemble, and Skidmore recorded three albums that featured the music of Alec Roth: Alec Roth: Shared Ground from 2011, Alec Roth: A Time to Dance from 2016, and the 2023 release Alex Roth, Vikram Seth: The Traveller; Earth & Sky. Residing in Birmingham, Skidmore is the director of the early music program at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and he also teaches as a guest lecturer at other schools in England and abroad.
© RJ Lambert /TiVo
Diskografie
19 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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A French Baroque Diva: Soprano Arias for Marie Fel
Carolyn Sampson, Ex Cathedra, Jeffrey Skidmore
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.06.2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Giovanni Gabrieli: Sacrae symphoniae
Ex Cathedra, Jeffrey Skidmore, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Concerto Palatino
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 26.10.2012
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
New World Symphonies: Baroque Music from Latin America
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.04.2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Juan de Araujo: Fire Burning in Snow – Baroque Music from Latin America 1
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.02.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Traveller • Earth and Sky
Ex Cathedra, Britten Sinfonia, Jeffrey Skidmore
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum Records am 07.07.2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Christmas – Sanctus – Music for the Nativity
Chorwerk (für den Chor) - Erschienen bei Musical Concepts am 02.11.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ex Cathedra XL at Christmas (Alec Roth - Vikram Seth - Traditional)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Orchid Classics am 25.11.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Règne Amour - Love Songs for Soprano from the Operas
Carolyn Sampson, Ex Cathedra, Jeffrey Skidmore
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.05.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roxanna Panufnik: Celestial Bird
Ex Cathedra, Milapfest, Jeffrey Skidmore
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum Records am 07.09.2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Orlande de Lassus
Nicholas Mulroy, Greg Skidmore, Ex Cathedra Consort, Jeffrey Skidmore
Klassik - Erschienen bei SOMM Recordings am 19.11.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brazilian Adventures: South American Music from the Classical Era
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 30.10.2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Mass for 4 Choirs & Other Works
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.01.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moon, Sun & All Things: Baroque Music from Latin America 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.09.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giovanni Gabrieli: Sacrae symphoniae
Ex Cathedra, Jeffrey Skidmore, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Concerto Palatino
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 26.10.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martin Peerson: Latin Motets
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A French Baroque Diva: Soprano Arias for Marie Fel
Carolyn Sampson, Ex Cathedra, Jeffrey Skidmore
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.06.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alec Roth: A Time to Dance & Other Choral Works
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 29.01.2016
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alec Roth: A Time to Dance & Other Choral Works
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 29.01.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brazilian Adventures: South American Music from the Classical Era
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 30.10.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo