Light of Light
Stephen Layton conducts music of Britten, Byrd, and MacMillan
St. Mary’s Church
5 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven
Free and open to the public; no tickets required.
Stephen Layton will conduct the Yale Schola Cantorum, the University’s acclaimed chamber choir directed by Simon Carrington, in a concert of English choral masterpieces on Saturday, January 19 at 8 pm at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven (5 Hillhouse Ave.). The concert is presented by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
Two-time Grammy nominee Stephen Layton is an original and exciting voice in British music today, renowned for his exceptional musicianship and for the vitality of his performances. The annual concerts with his professional choir Polyphony at St. John’s, Smith Square are notable events in London’s music calendar. 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 in New York.
He has conducted the Philadelphia, London Philharmonic, Bournemouth, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the English Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Academy of Ancient Music.
In recent collaborations with composers, Layton has given first performances of music by Sir John Tavener, Arvo Pärt and Thomas Adès. His bold realization 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 eclectic and award-winning discography includes music by Adès, Britten, Cornelius, Grainger, Gretchaninov, Holst, MacMillan, Pärt, Rutter, Schnittke, Tavener, and Walton. His Hyperion recording of music by Britten received a Gramophone Award and the Diapason d’Or in France for best choral disc of the year. His recordings of American composers Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre (also for Hyperion) have both received Grammy nominations.