Featured Composers
Guest Conductor and Composer
Sir David was born in Newquay, Cornwall, England in 1919, and from 1929 to 1934 was a chorister at Westminster Abbey. He was a music scholar at Clifton College, Bristol (1934-1938), and then the organ scholar at King's College, Cambridge (1939-1940). Following military service, in which he was awarded the Military Cross, he returned to King's College for two years (1945-1947). From 1947 to 1950 he was organist at Salisbury Cathedral and from 1950 to 1957 at Worcester Cathedral. During his years at Worcester he was principal conductor of the Three Choirs Festival in 1951, 1954, and 1957 and conductor of the City of Birmingham Choir (1950-1957), with whom he gave the first British performance of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem in 1952. From 1956 to 1974 he was also conductor of the Bradford Festival Choral Society.
From 1957 to 1974 he was Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge, where he maintained the glorious tradition with distinction. He made numerous recordings with the King's College Choir and leading orchestras, and the famous Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols gained international popularity through television and radio. With the King's College Choir he gave concerts in many European countries and also toured in Canada and Africa. At Cambridge he also served as University Organist, University Lecturer and Conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society.
From 1960 to 1998 he was Musical Director of The Bach Choir (London), which since its foundation in 1875 has given first performances of several important works. With the Bach Choir Sir David gave the first performances in Italy of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, at Perugia, Milan (La Scala), and Venice (La Fenice) in 1963, and later introduced the work in Japan, Hong Kong, Portugal and the Netherlands. From 1974 to 1984 he was Director of the Royal College of Music in London.
Sir David appears frequently as a conductor in the United States, Canada and European countries. He has also paid many visits to New Zealand and Australia, giving concerts with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Orchestras of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; to Hong Kong for concerts with the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra, and to South Africa for concerts with the SABC Choirs and Orchestra.
In 1992 Sir David was presented with the Harvard Glee Club Medal, and in 1999 he received the Distinguished Musician Award of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and of the University of Toronto.
He has received Honorary Degrees in England from the Universities of Bradford, Bristol, Exeter, Leicester, and Sussex, and from the Royal College of Music in London; in the USA from Luther College (Iowa), St. Olaf College (Minnesota) and Westminster Choir College (New Jersey); and in Canada from the University of Trinity College at the University of Toronto, Victoria University in British Columbia and Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is also an Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.
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Sir David Willcocks