Stephen Layton to step down as Trinity College Cambridge director of music
Florence Lockheart
Friday, March 10, 2023
Layton will leave his role with the college after a tour with Trinity College Choir in the summer to pursue a guest-conducting career
Trinity College Cambridge director of music Stephen Layton MBE has announced that he will leave his post after 17 years in the role. The conductor’s last concerts with the choir will take place during a tour to Germany this summer.
Layton will step down from his position as both Fellow and director of music to devote more time to his international guest-conducting career. In the coming weeks his appearances in this capacity will include a return to Sydney Opera House to conduct the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as well as concerts with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, vocal ensemble Polyphony and Britten Sinfonia.
Layton said: ‘The time has come for me to move on from Trinity College Cambridge and pursue my own guest-conducting career, something I have always hoped to do… Beyond the services, discography, technological advances and touring successes, it is the students who form the major part of my legacy: those members of this extraordinarily gifted group who changed the nature of a ‘college choir’ into a leading artistic professional beacon on the world stage.’
Alongside continuing to direct both Polyphony, which he formed in 1986, and the Holst Singers, Layton will continue to focus on education as he continues to deliver masterclasses and workshops around the world.
Under Layton’s direction, the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge has achieved worldwide acclaim. In 2012, the Choir received both the Gramophone Award for Choral Music and a US Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance for its recordings on the Hyperion label. Layton also oversaw the choir’s transition to livestreaming, first in audio form in 2012, then with video livestreams in 2019.
Dame Sally Davies, Master of Trinity, said: ‘Stephen is not only an incredibly accomplished conductor, but also has a talent for identifying opportunities that enable members of the Choir – who are drawn from our student body – to grow and develop their musical talents and interests… I am sure alumni and current members of the College will join me in thanking Stephen for the 17 years he has dedicated to nurturing our choir members and putting Trinity firmly on the global musical map.’