Simon Halsey is one of the world’s leading conductors of choral repertoire, regularly conducting prestigious orchestras and choirs both in Europe and North America.
He has been Chorus Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus for over 25 years and is Chief Conductor of the Berlin Radio Choir. He is Artistic Director and founder of the dynamic professional choir European Voices, formed at the invitation of Sir Simon Rattle and is in his fifth season as Principal Conductor, Choral Programme for The Sage Gateshead. Halsey also holds the position of consultant editor for Faber Music in the UK.
As chorus master Simon Halsey has formed close partnerships with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Edo de Waart, Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Chailly, Marek Janowski, Sakari Oramo, Kent Nagano, Claudio Abbado and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Halsey regularly conducts major choral projects with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra.
Highlights of the 2008-9 include conducting the German premiere of James Macmillan’s St John Passion with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir. He will also conduct the Berlin Radio Choir in two performances of Jost’s Angst and prepare them for performances of Ligeti’s Lux aeterna with Metzmacher, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Rattle and Mahler’s Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Abbado. In the UK Halsey will once again conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s annual Christmas Concerts at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall as well as the popular sing-along concert, this year of Mozart’s Requiem. Halsey will also travel with the orchestra to Cuenca, Spain to conduct a programme that includes works by Szymanowski and Finzi. With the Northern Sinfonia Halsey will conduct a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah as well as their popular annual Christmas concerts. The season also sees Halsey conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance of the Messiah and the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus will join the Phliharmonia for two concerts of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder with Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Halsey has worked on countless major recording projects, many of which have won major awards including several Gramophone Awards and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. In 2008 Halsey received a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for the recording of Brahms’ Requiem with Berliner Philarmoniker and Rattle. As conductor, recent releases include three new discs recorded with the Berlin Radio Choir: XL, a disc of choral music including works by Tallis, J.S Bach, Kodály and Harvey recorded on Harmonia Mundi, as well as Christian Jost’s Angst and Simple Gifts, featuring works by Britten, Copland, Barber and Tippett, both on the Coviello label. With the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus Halsey has recorded Julian Anderson’s Four American Choruses for NMC and English Choral Favourites for EMI.
Recent releases as Chorus Master include Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms / Rattle for EMI with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Mahler Das klagende Lied with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic on their own label, QuattroLive, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Oramo with Rundfunkchor Berlin, Groot Omroepkoor, and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus respectively. Other landmark recordings include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on EMI, in a live recording with the the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and Vienna Philharmonic/Rattle, and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with CBSO/Rattle/Janet Baker and Arleen Augér on EMI.
Simon Halsey is represented by Intermusica.
August 2008 / 547 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.