He is an orchestral, operatic and choral conductor
born in Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire, England.After attending grammar school he took musical studies
at the Royal Academy of Music in London before going to Queen's College,
Cambridge, as an organ scholar.In 1971, when he was just starting out on his career when he was 23,
he founded the Richard Hickox Singers and Orchestra and the City of London
Sinfonia.Within just a few
years the Sinfonia had received recognition and since then, with him still
at the helm as their music director, they tour overseas annually and
perform over 100 concerts per year.In 1982 he became the Artistic Director for the Northern Sinfonia
and stayed with them until 1990, and from 1985 he has been the Associate
Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.In 1990 he was a co-founder, with Simon Standage, of the
Collegium Standage 90.Among
his other duties he is the Chief Conductor for the London Symphony Chorus,
and with them he directed the premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies' The
Three Kings, he was the Music Director of the Spoleto Festival in
Italy, the Music Director of Opera Australia, the Principal Conductor of
the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, where he is now Conductor Emeritus,
and he is President of The Elgar Society.Having made many recordings, he won a Grammy Award in
1997 for Best Opera Recording with Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes and
Gramophone Record of the Year and Best Orchestral Disc in 2001 with Ralph
Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 2.In 2002 Queen Elizabeth II honoured him by making him a
Commander of the British Empire (CBE).
City of London Sinfonia recordings
William Alwyn
Autumn Legend for English Horn and String
Orchestra
