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He is renowned for his exceptional musicianship and for the vitality of
his performances.
In recent collaborations with composers, Layton has given first
performances of music by Sir John Tavener, Arvo Pärt and Thomas Adès.
His bold realisation of 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. Layton's premiere recordings of the latest choral works of Pärt
(Hyperion), Adès (EMI) and Tavener (Decca), made in the presence of the
composers, have been well received by critics and audience alike
This season Stephen Layton makes his debut with the Philadelphia
Orchestra, the London Philharmonic
and the Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestras. He has worked with the
the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, the
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the English
Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Australian Chamber
Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, the Orchestra of the Age of
Enlightenment and the Academy of Ancient Music.
Founder and conductor of Polyphony, Music Director of the Holst
Singers, Director of Music at The Temple, Layton is Principal Conductor
of the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Chief Guest Conductor of the Danish
National Choir.
Layton’s eclectic and award-winning discography includes music by Adès,
Britten, Cornelius, Grainger, Gretchaninov, Holst, Macmillan, Pärt,
Rutter, Schnittke, Tavener and Walton. In 2001 his Hyperion recording of
music by Britten (CDA67140) received a Gramophone Award and the Diapason
d’Or in France for best choral disc of the year.
Annual concerts with Polyphony at St John’s, Smith Square continue as
notable events in London's music calendar – the Independent rating
Layton’s 2003 St John Passion as “shattering”– “the outstanding feature
was the superbly unified, balanced and expressive choral singing of
Polyphony – a real wonder”. He conducted Deborah Warner’s production of
Bach's St John Passion at the English National Opera in 2000, and again
in 2002 when it was broadcast on BBC TV. Layton has also appeared in the
BBC Proms, the Aldeburgh Festival, the City of London Festival, and the
Lincoln Center Festival, New York.
Recent performances have taken Layton to Amsterdam, Dresden and Paris,
with numerous EBU broadcasts, including a televised Messiah from
Copenhagen and a B Minor Mass from the Concertgebouw. Touring with the
Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2001, Layton’s Mozart Requiem at the
Sydney Opera House was described as a performance ‘to die for’ (Sydney
Morning Herald).