Conductor Stephen Layton Photo: Supplied
Stephen Layton is steeped in choral music.
The English choral conductor is in Auckland to conduct two Christmas Concerts with The Graduate Choir and the Auckland Philharmonia in the city's Holy Trinity Cathedral this Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
It's part of a seven-week-long work trip that's taken Layton through Asia and Australia before he heads back to central Europe.
Not that the Derbyshire-born musician minds.
Speaking with RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Layton says music has been his life since he became a member of the Winchester Cathedral Choir as a boy, which meant moving away from his family and home town of Derby.
Whatever homesickness Layton may have felt was quickly forgotten as he embraced the rich musical life on offer, singing in the Cathedral six days a week, along with completing his school studies.
Possibly one of the biggest challenges Layton faced was when his voice began to break, and he feared his musical life might end.
Luckily, his maturing baritone, his keyboard skills, and the remarkable musical knowledge picked up as a choir boy set him up for an illustrious choral conducting career.
The latter began when, at the age of twenty while studying at Cambridge University, he founded the choir Polyphony.
Since then, he's led choirs across the world, including 17 years as Director of Music at Trinity College, Cambridge.
With tenor Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, The Graduate Choir and the Auckland Philharmonia, Layton will conduct excepts from Handel's Messiah and Bach's Christmas Oratorio, along with lighter favourites like Leroy Anderson’s ‘Sleigh Ride’ and a generous helping of traditional carols.
Both concerts are already sold out, but RNZ Concert is recording them for broadcast on Music Alive at 8pm this Christmas Day.
Christmas in the Cathedral: already sold out, but you can hear it on RNZ Concert on Christmas Day. Photo: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
And will Layton get a chance to enjoy a bit of Auckland life while he's in town?
Turns out Layton's favourite way to relax when not making music is heading off to the pub or a cafe to make conversation with the locals.
We certainly enjoyed his conversation with us.
