David Hill

Though he began his career ostensibly as an organist, David Hill emerged as one of the most important English choral conductors from the turn of the 21st century. Hill has also conducted orchestras, notably the <a href="spotify:artist:09KZU0NsS7jRa5p0SflmGY">Philharmonia</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2KuPDJp7FCpmaUy4jKcjfB">Bournemouth</a> Symphony Orchestras, but it is his choral work, particularly with regard to the music of Spanish Renaissance composers and that of 19th and 20th century English composers, that has afforded him his greatest triumphs.

Hill was born in Carlisle, England, on May 13, 1957. He was a gifted child, studying organ at Chetham's Music School in Manchester, where at 14, he also developed an interest in conducting. At the Royal College of Organists, three years later, he was made a fellow. He went on to study at St. John's, Cambridge, under <a href="spotify:artist:3DRH7rF3cYnN6kRuWid07b">George Guest</a>. Other important teachers included Gillian Weir and <a href="spotify:artist:3PSQN3N1XMmxWEjrYK1nvs">Peter Hurford</a>. After his graduation from St. John's, Hill's career quickly advanced with a prestigious series of important posts: he served as sub-organist at Durham Cathedral (1980-1982), music director of the Alexandra Choir (1980-1987), master of music at Westminster Cathedral (1982), organist and master of music at Winchester Cathedral (1987-2002), and then music director of the Waynflete Singers (1987-2002).

Amid all this activity, Hill was busy in the recording studio, as well: his series of <a href="spotify:artist:6kxOoWR3e76CmJsX9WIu4d">Tomás Luis de Victoria</a> albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperion%22">Hyperion</a> began to appear in 1983 with the release O Quam gloriosum, with Hill leading the <a href="spotify:artist:7bOkvwxa2SjdbvMvNawSMZ">Westminster Choir</a>. A year before taking his Winchester and Waynflete posts, Hill was appointed associate conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:4bXvXL4mlRJP41vVBeVkrp">Philharmonia Chorus</a>. Later, he would serve as its artistic director until 1997. In 1998, Hill became the music director of the <a href="spotify:artist:7aBHoHldT814X9KS3cXIoM">Bach Choir</a>. Hill continued to turn out recordings throughout the '80s and '90s and into the new century, championing little-known works, as with the three volumes of Charles Villiers Stanford choral pieces on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperion%22">Hyperion</a> (1997), as well as repertory staples like Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli on the same label (1993). In 2003, Hill donned his organist's cap when he appeared as a soloist on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Regis+Records%22">Regis Records</a>' album Cathedral Organ Classics.

From 2003 until 2007, Hill was the music director at St. John's College, Cambridge. He served as chief conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:6JP6LrgvTOWrGZvgGOjCwM">BBC Singers</a> from 2007 until 2017. In 2013, Hill was named the principal conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum. He remained prolifically active in the new century, leading the various groups with which he has been associated and often issuing several albums a year. In 2019, Hill could be found on several releases, including Handel's Messiah with the <a href="spotify:artist:6JP6LrgvTOWrGZvgGOjCwM">BBC Singers</a> on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Resonus%22">Resonus</a> and Heinrich Schütz's The Christmas Story with the Yale Schola Cantorum on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperion%22">Hyperion</a>. By 2023, when he issued the album Peter Warlock: Maltworms and Milkmaids with the <a href="spotify:artist:6JP6LrgvTOWrGZvgGOjCwM">BBC Singers</a> on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EM+Records%22">EM Records</a> label, Hill could boast a recording catalog including some 100 items. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi