Biography
John Alldis earned his primary reputation by establishing the London ensemble that carried his own name, emerging as one of England’s leading choral conductors whose work spanned numerous groups and covered repertory from Renaissance polyphony through modern scores. For instance, in 1967 he readied that ensemble for the initial European hearing of Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles, an event led overall by Pierre Boulez. Between 1949 and 1952 he attended King’s College, Cambridge, as a choral scholar studying with Boris Ord, later returning to complete a master’s degree at the same institution in 1957. He launched the professional, sixteen-voice John Alldis Choir in 1962; its debut program featured the world premiere of Alexander Goehr’s A Little Cantata of Proverbs, and contemporary works would remain central to the group’s activities. His standing rose so rapidly that the London Symphony Orchestra engaged him in 1966 to create and lead its first permanent chorus. He moved to the London Philharmonic Chorus in 1969 and stayed there through 1982, while the John Alldis Choir also contributed to numerous opera recordings issued by Decca and RCA. During those same years he served on the faculty of London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1966 to 1979, held a joint chief conductorship at Radio Denmark—chiefly directing its Danish State Radio Chorus—from 1971 to 1977, and led the Groupe Vocal de France between 1979 and 1983. Following a comparatively quiet stretch through most of the 1980s, he acted as music consultant to the Israel Chamber Choir from 1989 to 1991, receiving mixed reviews from that country’s demanding critics. Recognition proved stronger in England, where he was appointed chorus master of Manchester’s Hallé Choir in 1992—though his name was omitted from the 2001 New Grove—and in France, where he received the chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1994. Mid-decade guest engagements included appearances with the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus and the Central Philharmonic Society of China in Beijing.
Albums
