Photo: Keith Saunders

Stephen Layton, MBE, a renowned choral specialist and conductor, is leaving Trinity College Cambridge at the end of the 2023 academic year after 17 years at the institution to focus on his international conducting career.

During his tenure, Trinity’s choir won the Gramophone Award for Choral Music in 2012 and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Choral Performance for “Beyond All Mortal Dreams”

The choir’s repertoire includes performances of Bach’s B Minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

On Trinity College Cambridge’s website, Layton expressed his decision, saying, “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. It has been a joy and an exceptional privilege to work with The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge for so many years.  I am extremely proud of what we have achieved together.

“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. I warmly wish them rich success for the future and I know that they will go from strength to strength.”

This summer, Layton and the choir will embark on a tour to Germany, where they will perform the Duruflé Requiem in six concerts, including a performance at Frankfurt Cathedral, marking Layton’s last performance with the choir.

“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,” stated Master of Trinity Dame Sally Davies said on the Trinity website.