CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON – Editorial Group

Christopher Robinson was educated at Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was Organ Scholar. In his twenties, he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Worcester Cathedral, where he conducted several Three Choirs Festivals. He moved to St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 1974, where he was Organist and Choirmaster until 1991. He was Conductor of the Oxford Bach Choir from 1976 to 1997 and of the City of Birmingham Choir from 1964 to 2002.

He conducted most of the large-choir repertoire with the City of Birmingham Choir. His affinity for Elgar’s music produced several highly praised performances of The Dream of Gerontius. In 1981 he conducted Messiaen’s La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jesus Christ and in 1989 two performances of Tippett’s Mask of Time. The Choir also gave a widely praised first performance in England of the Jacobite Rising by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

From 1992-2003 he was Director of Music at St John’s College, Cambridge, and later directed Clare College Choir for a year. In both these posts he produced acclaimed recordings of English music for Naxos. He has been Chairman of the Elgar Society and President of the RCO. In 1992 the Queen made him a Commander of the Victorian Order for his services at Windsor Castle, and in 2002, he was awarded a Lambeth D.Mus. He became an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians in 2003 and received a CBE in the 2004 New Year’s Honours List.