Masters of the Bench

Stephen Layton is the Director of Music at Trinity College, Cambridge.  He is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia.  Layton guest conducts widely, including the Philadelphia, Minnesota, London Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Ulster, Bournemouth, Royal Scottish National, Britten Sinfonia, Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music and with English, Scottish, Irish and Australian chamber orchestras.  For English National Opera he conducted Bach’s St John Passion in a stage production with Deborah Warner.  A champion of new music, Layton has premiered Pärt, Ades and MacMillan. His bold realisation of Tavener’s epic seven-hour vigil The Veil of the Temple, a new departure in British music, was premiered in The Temple Church and later performed in London at the Proms and in New York at the Lincoln Center Festival.  Layton founded Polyphony in 1986 whilst organ scholar of King’s College, Cambridge.  He is 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. He was Director of Music at the Temple in London and Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Kammerkoor.  He has received the Gramophone Award in the UK, the Diapason d’Or in France, The ECHO Deutscher Musicpreis in German, The Compact Award in Spain and three Grammy nominations in the USA.