Stephen Layton
Conductor Stephen Layton has, unusually, cultivated strong careers in both choral and orchestral music. Perhaps best known as the director of music at Trinity College, Cambridge, he has often championed contemporary works.
Layton was born in Derby, England, on December 23, 1966. His father was a church organist, and he became interested in choral music early on, becoming a chorister at Winchester Cathedral and earning scholarships to Eton College (in American terms, a high school) and then to Cambridge University, where he earned the competitive post of organ scholar at King's College. He sang in its famous choir and soon settled on a career as a choral conductor himself, founding the mixed-voice choir Polyphony in 1986 while still a Cambridge student. He has remained associated with the group, which has broadened its repertory beyond its original early music base, moved to London, and recorded extensively; Layton recorded his debut album with Polyphony in 1995, featuring James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross. The group has participated in the world premieres of several major works, including the Symphony No. 2 of Alfred Schnittke.
Layton held posts as assistant organist at Southwark Cathedral, as director of the Wokingham Choral Society, and as director of music at the medieval Temple Church in London. He worked in northwestern Europe as chief conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir from 1999 to 2004 and as chief guest conductor of the Danish National Vocal Ensemble from 2000 to 2012. In addition to Polyphony, Layton serves as director of three other major ensembles: the Holst Singers, taking up the baton in 1993; the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, where he began work in 1996 and later assumed the position of director of music; and conductor of the City of London Sinfonia, where he was named artistic director in 2009, later given the title of principal conductor. It is a measure of Layton's depth and versatility that he has made major recordings with all three of these groups. By the late 2010s, his catalog of recordings, many of them on the Hyperion label, numbered well over 50, and they were strikingly diverse. In 2019, with the Choir of Trinity College, he issued a recording of choral music by Gerald Finzi, and he led Polyphony in a recording of Karl Jenkins' Miserere. Layton remained active through the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing an album of music by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi in 2020, one of works by Cecilia McDowall in 2021, one of music by Ivo Antognini in 2023, and one of anthems by Elgar and others, also in 2023, all with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, on the Hyperion label. In March of 2023, he stepped down from the directorship of the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, to devote more time to guest conducting.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Lauridsen: O magnum mysterium, Lux aeterna, Ubi caritas & Other Choral Works
Polyphony, Britten Sinfonia, Stephen Layton
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 mar 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pärt: Triodion & Other Choral Works
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 set 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yulefest! - Christmas Music & Carols from Trinity College Cambridge
The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Stephen Layton
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 13 nov 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Veljo Tormis: Choral Music
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 apr 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kenneth Leighton: Crucifixus & Other Choral Works
Stephen Layton, The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 30 mar 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The John Tavener Collection
Temple Choir, Holst Singers, Natalie Clein, English Chamber Orchestra, Stephen Layton
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Howells: Requiem; St Paul's & Gloucester Services etc.
Stephen Layton, The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 23 mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Whitacre: Cloudburst, Sleep, Lux aurumque & Other Choral Works
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 feb 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment, Stephen Layton, The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 2 mar 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Briggs: God Be in My Head
The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Stephen Layton
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 24 nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John Rutter: Music for Christmas
Polyphony, City Of London Sinfonia, Stephen Layton
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 ott 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Annum per Annum; 7 Antiphons
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 mag 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lauridsen: Nocturnes; Les chansons des roses & Other Choral Works
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 gen 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Gloria & Motets
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Sacred & Profane; A.M.D.G; 5 Flower Songs; Choral Dances from Gloriana etc.
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 mar 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Dettingen Te Deum; Zadok the Priest
Academy of Ancient Music, Stephen Layton, The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 2 giu 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MacMillan: Seven Last Words from the Cross
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 ago 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ikon, Vol. 1: Sacred Choral Music from Russia & Eastern Europe
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 mag 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Briggs: Mass for Notre Dame
The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Stephen Layton
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 8 giu 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Christmas Present from Polyphony
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 ott 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
O magnum misterium: 20th Century Christmas Carols
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 1 ott 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo