Simon Halsey,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 8 March 1958) is an English choral conductor. He is the chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (

CBSO Chorus The CBSO Chorus is a chorus based in Birmingham, England. Description It was founded in 1973 as the CBSO Chorus, with an upper age limit of 45 years old. Simon Halsey has served as Chorus Director since 1983. Between 1995 and 2009 was known offic ...

), a position he has held since 1983, and has been chorus director of the

London Symphony Chorus The London Symphony Chorus (abbreviated to LSC) is a large symphonic concert choir based in London, UK, consisting of over 150 amateur singers, and is one of the major symphony choruses of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1966 as the ''L ...

since 2012. He is also artistic director of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

Youth Choral Programme and the director of the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

Youth Choir, and conductor laureate of the

Berlin Radio Choir The Rundfunkchor Berlin (Berlin Radio Choir) is a professional German classical choir founded in 1925. In the 1950s the choir was divided into the Berliner Solistenvereinigung and the Großer Chor des Berliner Rundfunks. These were united as Run ...

. He is professor and director of choral activities at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Early career

Born in London, Halsey sang in the choirs of both

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. He studied conducting at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in London. In 1987, he founded the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (since 2001 the

Birmingham Opera Company Birmingham Opera Company is a professional opera company based in Birmingham, England, that specialises in innovative and avant-garde productions of the operatic repertoire, often in unusual venues. History The company was founded by leading in ...

) with leading international opera director

Graham Vick Sir Graham Vick (30 December 1953 – 17 July 2021) was an English opera director known for his experimental and revisionist stagings of traditional and modern operas. He worked in many of the world's leading opera houses and was artistic d ...

. In addition, he was artistic director and founder of the professional choir European Voices, and principal conductor, choral programme, for the

Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. Since 2004, the o ...

from 2004 until 2012. He founded the City of Birmingham Youth Chorus in 1995. His position with the CBSO Chorus brings him into regular contact with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, including as conductor of the annual Christmas concerts. Halsey served as chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir () from 1997 to 2008. He was international chair of choral conducting of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama from 2008 until 2014.

Current positions

Since 1983, Halsey has been the chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus. Halsey is currently artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Youth Choral Programme and the director of the

Youth Choir; he has held both these positions since 2012. From 2001 to 2015, he also served as chief conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Radio Choir (Rundfunkchor Berlin). He gave his last concert in this role on 31 May 2015, his replacement being Dutch conductor . Halsey continues his association with the choir under the title of Conductor Laureate. Since August 2012 he has been chorus director of the

. Since season 2016–2017 he is the artistic director of the chorusses of Palau de la Música Catalana, in Barcelona, and the Chorus Master of Orfeó Català. He was involved in the BBC Proms in 2012–2015, preparing choirs for performances of Michael Tippett's ''A Child of Our Time'' (2012), Ralph Vaughan Williams' ''A Sea Symphony'', Britten's ''War Requiem'' and Elgar's ''The Dream of Gerontius''. Other positions include artistic advisor of Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Choir Academy (since 2014), professor and director of Choral Activities, University of Birmingham (since 2012), and international chair of choral conducting for the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Halsey has worked with orchestras and choirs all over the world. He has also conducted projects as diverse as Handel's Messiah (Handel), ''Messiah'' with the Minnesota Orchestra and Fauré's Requiem (Fauré), Requiem with the CBSO Chorus and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. With the

, he worked on a performance of Britten's ''Noye's Fludde'', for the tenth anniversary of Berlin Phil Education. He is also currently the artistic director for Crowd Out, a massive work for chorus composed by David Lang (composer), David Lang. He has collaborated with director Peter Sellars for several oratorios. Halsey has also been involved with numerous recordings, including a live recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the CBSO Chorus and the Vienna Philharmonic, under Simon Rattle. In 2006 he conducted the CBSO Chorus in their first completely choral recording, an album of English Choral Favourites. In addition, Halsey is consultant editor on Faber Music's Choral Programme Series of sheet music.

Awards

Halsey has won numerous awards, including three Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance, Grammys for Best Choral Performance. One in 2008 for a recording of Brahms' ''Ein Deutsches Requiem'', by the Berlin Radio Choir and the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Simon Rattle. Another in 2009 for Stravinsky's ''Symphony of Psalms'', Symphony in C (Stravinsky)}Symphony in C and Symphony in Three Movements, by the Berlin Radio Choir, Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle. His third Grammy was in 2011 for Saariaho's ''L'Amour de loin'', by the Berlin Radio Choir and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, conducted by Kent Nagano. He has also obtained a number of other awards for his work, including a Diapason d'Or from ''Diapason (magazine), Diapason'' magazine in France; a ''BBC Music Magazine'' award, and has won several German Echo Klassik awards. Halsey was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) in 2010, and has three honorary doctorates, from Warwick University, the University of Central England and Birmingham University. In March 2015 he was awarded the 2014 Queen's Medal for Music. Halsey was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours.

References

External links

* , Peter Sellars, 2010
Profile and biography
Intermusica

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halsey, Simon 1958 births Alumni of the Royal College of Music English choral conductors British male conductors (music) Living people Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Academics of the University of Birmingham Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge Choristers of New College, Oxford