Harry Christophers
conductor
Harry Christophers, in partnership with The Sixteen which he founded 45 years ago, has set benchmark standards for the performance of everything from late medieval polyphony to new works from today’s finest choral composers. The Sixteen’s soundworld, rich in tonal variety and expressive nuance, reflects Christophers’ determination to create a vibrant choral instrument from the blend of mixed adult professional voices.
Alongside his commitments with The Sixteen, Christophers served as Artistic Director of the Handel and Haydn Society for 13 years, and has recently been appointed their Conductor Laureate. His guest conducting engagements include the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and the Deutsches Kammerphilharmonie. His conducting credits also include extensive work in opera, including productions for English National Opera, Lisbon Opera, and the Granada, Buxton, and Grange festivals.
Christophers’ recordings for The Sixteen’s record label CORO and other labels have attracted numerous prestigious prizes. He won the Ensemble/Orchestral Album of the Year at the 2005 Classical Brit Awards for Renaissance, issued to mark The Sixteen’s 25th anniversary, and was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for IKON. In 2009, his second recording of Handel’s Messiah, made for CORO, was honored with the MIDEM Classical Award, while he received the coveted Gramophone Artist of the Year Award together with the Best Baroque Vocal Award for Handel’s Coronation Anthems. In celebration of the group’s 40th anniversary, he collaborated with BBC Radio 3 presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch to produce the book A New Heaven: Choral Conversations.
Christophers was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s 2012 Birthday Honors for his services to music. He is an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, as well as the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and has honorary doctorates in music from the Universities of Leicester, Northumbria, Canterbury Christ Church, and Kent.