Stephen Layton
Artistic Director & Principal Conductor
Stephen succeeded the late Richard Hickox as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of City of London Sinfonia in September 2010.
Founder and Director of Polyphony, Stephen is also 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. His former posts include Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Kammerkoor and Director of Music at the Temple Church in London.
Stephen guest conducts widely and has worked extensively with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He has also worked at English National Opera, where he conducted Deborah Warner's renowned staging of Bach's St John Passion. He collaborates regularly with the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia, with whom he has recorded a wide range of repertoire including Handel, Bruckner, Poulenc and Stravinsky.
His recent engagements include dates with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Estonian Philharmonic Choir, the Latvian Radio Choir and the Polish Chamber Choir. He conducted City of London Sinfonia as Resident Orchestra at the Cartagena Festival in Colombia in January 2011 and will next conduct CLS at the BBC Proms in August.
A champion of new music, Stephen has premiered new repertoire by many composers, including Jackson, Tormis and Lauridsen and, more recently, by the young Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds. His bold realisation of Sir John 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.
