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The English choral conductor, teacher, adjudicator and bass player, Simon Robert Carrington, studied at the Christ Church Cathedral Choir School, Oxford; The King's School. Canterbury; King's College, Cambridge; New College, Oxford; MA (Cantab); Teaching Certificate (Oxon); Choral Scholar', King's College, Cambridge.
In 1967 Simon Carrington co-founded co-founded at Cambridge University the internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble The King’s Singers, and was its Director for 25 years. He gave 3,000 performances at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls, made more than 70 recordings (for EMI), and appeared on countless television and radio programs including: Regular TV appearances worldwide, including Live at The Boston Pops, 1983; BBC TV series, The King’s Singers Madrigal History Tour, 1984; On Stage at Wolftrap, PBS TV, USA, 1986; ABCTV (USA) The Sound of Christmas: Salzburg, 1987; nine appearances on the Tonight Show with the late Johnny Carson!
In 1994 Simon Carrington moved to the USA. From 1994 to 2001 he was director of choral activities at the University of Kansas. From From 2001 to 2003, he held similar position at the New England Conservatory. In 2003 he was appointed Director of the Yale Schola Cantorum and professor of choral conducting at Yale University, where he has also led the introduction of a new graduate voice degree for singers specializing in oratorio, early music, art song, and chamber ensemble. He has taken Yale Schola Cantorum to perform at the two major choral conventions in the USA where they received standing ovations and his recordings with the choir of baroque masterpieces by Bach, Biber and Bertali have received rave reviews. In 2008 he conducts Dvorak Te Deum and Prokofiev Alexander Nevski at the International Choir Festival in Szczecin, Poland, the Choir and Rebel Baroque Orchestra at Trinity Church Wall Street, the Desert Chorale in Santa Fe and returns as president of the international jury at the choral festival in Leipzig, Germany.
Simon Carrington maintains an active schedule as a freelance conductor and choral clinician, leading workshops and master-classes round the world. He has conducted the Monteverdi Vespers in Barcelona, the Fauré Requiem in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, L.v. Beethoven's Meeresstille with the Texas All State Choir, George Frideric Handel's Messiah in Dublin and the Rachmaninov Vespers in Victoria BC with singers from all over Canada. He is a regular guest conductor at the Monteverdi Choir Festival in Budapest and the Tokyo Cantat in Japan and leads annual workshops at the Chamber Choir Festival in Sarteano (Italy), and the Yale summer festival in Norfolk, Connecticut. He also was Festival Director: Summer in the City Festival, The Barbican, 1988, 1989; Major Festival appearances worldwide; Freelance Double Bass Player; Director, Choral Summer Schools, Marlborough College, Wiltshire, and Berwang, Austria.
Compositions: Numerous arrangements for The King’s Singers, published by Regal Music.
Recordings: Numerous: EMI UK; Intercord, Germany; MMG, USA and Canada; Victor, Japan; EMI. Australia; etc. Publication: The King's Singers - A Self Portrait, 1981.
Honours: Grammy Nomination, 1986; Deutsche Schallplatten Preis, 1978. Hobbies: Vintage Cars; Inland Waterways; Trees; Walking; Books; Jogging. |
