Nigel Springthorpe

Nigel Springthorpe BMus PhD FLCM PGCE is Director of Music at St Albans High School for Girls where he conducts the school's Senior and Chamber Orchestras as well as several choirs. He is also an examiner for the Trinity Guildhall examination board. His professional interests include conducting and 18th century Passion works. In 1989 he co-authored a book with John Lumley "The art of conducting: A guide to essential skills" (London: Rhinegold, 1989, revised 2nd edition: Westminster Publications, 2005).

Conducting

Nigel Springthorpe specialised in conducting in his time at the University of Surrey, going on to study conducting and piano at the Royal College of Music where he won the Sir Adrian Boult Conducting Prize. He then studied conducting with Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart.

Springthorpe runs his own orchestra, the Amici Chamber Orchestra and has been involved in several youth orchestras, operatic societies and choirs in north London including the Harrow Choral Society. He has twice appeared as conductor at the St Albans International Organ Festival.

18th century Passion works

Three important première performances of 18th century Passion works has led to an interest in 18th century choral music on which Nigel Springthorpe has completed fellowship and doctoral dissertations. Currently he is working on the thematic catalogue of the works of Johann Georg Röllig (1710-1790) and a large project on the 18th century keyboard concerto. He is author of three articles in New Grove Dictionary of Music, of programme notes for Naxos recordings, and has read several papers in conferences in England and Germany.

Teaching

After completing formal studies Springthorpe started teaching at The John Lyon School and in 1988 was appointed Director of Music at St Albans High School for Girls.

Composing

Nigel Springthorpe has written a variety of works for solo voice, mixed and upper-voice choirs, harp and piano. Three harp pieces are published in Lever Harp 2000 and are currently in the Trinity-Guildhall and ABRSM syllabuses. A further piece is published in Lever Harp World and also in the Trinity-Guildhall examination syllabus, while two further pieces are to be published in 2007. Two carols are published by Goodmusic.

External links

* [http://www.sun.rhbnc.ac.uk/Music/Archive/Disserts/springth.html Passion composition and composers of passion music associated with the court of Anhalt-Zerbst, 1997] .