Paul Hillier
Paul Hillier is one of the leading figures in the early music movement, both as a singer and conductor. With an increasing interest in new music later in his career, he has performed and recorded music spanning from the 12th century to the 21st. He founded two world-class ensembles and has won several awards for his recordings, including two Grammys.
Hillier was born in Dorchester, England, on February 9, 1949. As a boy, he was a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. This position allowed him an opportunity to learn a wide expanse of choral repertoire, receive a thorough musical and general education at the St. Paul's Cathedral School, make important lifelong contacts, and earn great prestige. After graduating, he studied music at London's Guildhall. Hillier returned to St. Paul's Cathedral in 1973 as its vicar-scholar for one season, while also a member of the Queen's Chapel Royal at Windsor Castle. In 1974, he made his solo recital debut at the Purcell Room in London. In the same year, he co-founded the Hilliard Ensemble, becoming its music director. The ensemble soon became one of the world's best-known early music vocal groups, and was much in demand for performances worldwide, making several best-selling and award-winning recordings. The all-male quartet specialized in Renaissance music. From 1980-1981, Hillier was a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, after which he began to spend an increasing amount of time in the U.S. He was the Copland Colloquium Fellow at Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1984. During this time, he became more interested in new music and tried to get the Hilliard Ensemble to branch out in that direction. That, as well as a wish to add female voices and engage in the more theatrical style of performance presentation, led to his leaving the Ensemble.
In 1990, Hillier moved to the U.S. to become a professor of music at the University of California, Davis. There, he founded Theatre of Voices, an ensemble of male and female singers specializing both in early and recent music, and performing in dynamic, theatrical stage presentations. Unlike the Hilliard Ensemble, it was planned to include a varying number of singers, depending on the demands of the performances. Theatre of Voices records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi, on which it has released a repertoire ranging from 12th century chant to the music of Arvo Pärt, including Litany for the Whale by John Cage, and a selection of early American religious music, including hymns sung in the "shaped note" tradition. From 1996-2003, Hillier was director of the Early Music Institute at Indiana University; he also conducted the university's early music choir, the Pro Arte Singers. From 2001-2008, he was the artistic director and principal conductor of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. In 2003, Hillier became the chief conductor of the Ars Nova ensemble in Copenhagen, and in 2008, he began his role as the artistic director and chief conductor of the National Chamber Choir of Ireland.
Hillier has maintained an active career as a singer and conductor, frequently appearing in North America, Europe, and Japan, though he has relaxed this pace sufficiently to carry out his teaching and administrative responsibilities and also research and write. His books include 300 Years of English Partsongs, Romantic English Partsongs, The Catch Book, and a book on Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, and he is serving as editor of a book of collected writings of composer Steve Reich. Hillier has won many prizes for recordings, including Grammy Awards in 2007 for Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem and 2010 for David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion. He has recorded on the Harmonia Mundi, ECM, EMI, Finlandia, Hyperion, and Dacapo labels.
© Joseph Stevenson /TiVo
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First Drop
Ars Nova Copenhagen, Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, Paul Hillier, Mathias Friis-Hansen, David Hildebrandt
Classical - Released by Cantaloupe Music on 19 May 2017
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Josquin Desprez: Missa "Hercules dux Ferrariae", Motets and chansons
Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 2 Feb 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Buxtehude & His Circle
Theatre of Voices, Jakob Bloch Jespersen, Paul Hillier
Chamber Music - Released by Dacapo on 1 Apr 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monastic Song: 12th Century Monophonic Chant
Paul Hillier, Theatre of Voices
Choirs (sacred) - Released by harmonia mundi on 4 Jul 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Home To Thanksgiving - Songs of Thanks and Praise (Paul Hillier)
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 17 Aug 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verspers/ Ave Verum Corpus - Mozart
Lynne Dawson, David James, Rogers Covey-Crump, Paul Hillier, Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Cambridge Classical Players
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 30 May 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John Cage: Litany for the Whale
Paul Hillier, Theatre of Voices, Terry Riley
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 10 Jun 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Toivo Tulev: Songs
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Paul Hillier, Robin Blaze
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by harmonia mundi on 14 Oct 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Theatre Of Voices
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 1 Apr 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Requiem (Johannes Ockeghem - Bent Sorensen)
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by Dacapo on 26 Mar 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Proensa
Paul Hillier, Stephen Stubbs, Andrew Lawrence-King, Erin Headley
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 1 Mar 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lassus: St. Matthew Passion: Visitatio: Exsultet
Paul Hillier, Theatre of Voices, Paul Eliott
Sacred Oratorios - Released by harmonia mundi on 16 May 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Cries of London (Paul Hillier & Theatre of Voices)
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 21 Dec 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Golden Age of Danish Partsongs
Mélodies (Northern Europe) - Released by Dacapo on 3 Mar 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Tarik O'Regan : Acallam na Senorach (An Irish Colloquy)
National Chamber Choir of Ireland, Paul Hillier, Stewart French, Jim Higgins and Frank Torpey
Symphonic Music - Released by harmonia mundi on 11 Oct 2011
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: Mixed Company
London Sinfonietta, Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier
Chamber Music - Released by Dacapo on 3 Mar 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: Green Ground (Live)
Kronos Quartet, Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier
Classical - Released by Dacapo on 26 Aug 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
The Natural World of Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen
Ars Nova Copenhagen, Paul Hillier
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Dacapo on 4 Jan 2011
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Ockeghem - Requiem (Missa Pro Defunctis) & Missa Mi Mi (Missa Quarti Toni)
Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 25 Nov 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Carols through the Ages
Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier, Choir of Clare College, Graham Ross
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 10 Dec 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ockeghem - Sacred Choral Works
Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 25 Nov 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo