Roger Norrington

Sir Roger Norrington
Birth name	Roger Arthur Carver Norrington
Born	16 March 1934 (1934-03-16) (age 77) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Conductor
Years active	1962–present

Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington, CBE (born 16 March 1934) is a British conductor. He is the son of Sir Arthur Norrington and his brother is Humphrey Thomas Norrington.

Norrington studied at the Dragon School, Westminster School, Clare College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music under Adrian Boult among others. Norrington worked as a tenor through the 1960s, and in 1962 founded the Schütz Choir (later the Schütz Choir of London).

From 1969 to 1984, Norrington was music director of Kent Opera. In 1978, he founded the London Classical Players and remained their musical director until 1997. From 1985 to 1989, he was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta. He is also president of the London Philharmonic Choir. In the USA, from 1990 to 1994, he was music director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's. In Europe, he was principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg from 1997 to 2006. He served as principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1998 to 2011.^[1] He was Artistic Advisor of the Handel and Haydn Society from 2006 to 2009. In January 2010, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra announced the appointment of Norrington as its next principal conductor, as of the 2011-2012 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.^[2]

Norrington is best known for performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music using period instruments and period style. He is a member of the historically informed performance movement. Norrington has advocated a limited or no use of vibrato in orchestral performances,^[3] which has brought him both acclaim and criticism.^[4] He has strictly followed Beethoven's original metronome markings in his symphonies, despite various critical comments that these markings were "miscalculated".^[4] He has conducted recordings of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Berlioz, and Brahms on period instruments.^[5]

With his wife, the choreographer Kay Lawrence, he formed in 1984 the Early Opera Project to complement his concert work in period-style performance, beginning with Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino that year, and touring Britain in 1986.

In August 2008, Norrington appeared in the reality TV talent show-themed television series, Maestro on BBC Two, when he led the judging panel.^[6] He conducted the Last Night of The Proms for the first time on 13 September 2008.^[7]

Norrington has been married twice. He and his second wife, Kay Lawrence, have a son, Tom.^[8] He was made an OBE in 1980, a CBE in 1990 and a Knight Bachelor in 1997. He is a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera and the Orchestra of St Paul's.

References

1. ^ Götz Thieme (2010-02-25). "Stéphane Denève soll es werden". Stuttgarter Zeitung. http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/page/2400885_0_1727_-neuer-chefdirigent-st-phane-den-ve-soll-es-werden.html. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
2. ^ "Roger Norrington neuer Chefdirigent des Zürcher Kammerorchesters". Basler Zeitung. 2010-01-15. http://bazonline.ch/kultur/klassik/Roger-Norrington-neuer-Chefdirigent-des-Zuercher-Kammerorchesters/story/15511251. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
3. ^ Roger Norrington (16 February 2003). "Time to Rid Orchestras of the Shakes". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E3DA1F3BF935A25751C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-04-17. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Allan Kozinn (6 August 2003). "Reading a Score, and Beethoven's Mind". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E4DE1F3EF935A3575BC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-04-17. 
5. ^ John Rockwell (2 January 1994). "Norrington's Historical Trek Gathers Fresh Momentum". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05EEDD163EF931A35752C0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-04-17. 
6. ^ "Eight passionate amateurs bid to become BBC Two's Maestro" (Press release). BBC. 2008-05-23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/05_may/23/maestro.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-24. 
7. ^ Richard Morrison (2008-09-15). "Proms 75 & 76: Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/proms/article4753407.ece. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
8. ^ Nicholas Wroe (2007-07-21). "Speed it up". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/jul/21/music. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 

External links

• A Norrington discography from the Japanese website "kanzaki.com"
• London Philharmonic Choir page
• Isobel Leybold-Johnson, "Sir Roger takes up the baton in Zurich". Swiss Info webpage article, 10 September 2010

Preceded by Ronald Thomas	Principal Conductor, Bournemouth Sinfonietta 1985–1989	Succeeded by Tamás Vásáry
Preceded by no predecessor	Music Director, Orchestra of St. Luke's 1990–1994	Succeeded by Sir Charles Mackerras
Preceded by Sándor Végh	Principal Conductor, Camerata Salzburg 1997–2006	Succeeded by Leonidas Kavakos
Preceded by Gianluigi Gelmetti	Principal Conductor, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra 1998–2011	Succeeded by Stéphane Denève
Preceded by Muhai Tang	Principal Conductor, Zurich Chamber Orchestra 2011–present	Succeeded by incumbent