(Credit: Manfred Esser)

On July 18, 2025, English Conductor Sir Roger Norrington died at the 91.

Norrington was born in Oxford on March 16, 1934, and studied at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Dragon School, Oxford, Westminster School, Clare College, Cambridge, and the Royal College of Music. He was a Violin player and worked as a tenor through the 1960s.

In 1962, he founded the Schütz Choir and later became teh Music Director of the Kent Opera from 1969 to 1984.

In 1978, Norrington founded the London Classical Players and remained the Music Director of the organization until 1997. He was also the Principal Director of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta from 1985 to 1989 and was president of the Oxford Bach Choir. He was also the music director of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s from 1990 to 1994. Other posts that the legendary conductor held included principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg, principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and artistic advisor of the Handel and Haydn Society. He was also principal guest conductor of the Orchestre de chambre de Paris and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and principal conductor of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

In 1984, Norrington founded the Early Opera Project to complement his concert work in period-style opera.

Throughout his career, Norrington was known for historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music. He went on to record music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Bruckner, and Mahler on period and modern instruments.

In 2021, Norrington retired from the stage.