Paul Hillier

Members of theKronos Quartetwith Paul Hillier (middle) in Malmö, 2005

Paul Douglas HillierOBE(born 9 February 1949) is an Englishconductor,music director andbaritone.He specializes in bothearlyandcontemporary classical music,especially that by composersSteve ReichandArvo Pärt.He was a co-founder of theHilliard Ensembleas wellTheatre of Voices,and directed theEstonian Philharmonic Chamber Choirfor many years. He has been Chief Conductor ofArs Nova (Copenhagen)(2003-2023), and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor ofChamber Choir Ireland(formerly known as the National Chamber Choir of Ireland) since 2008.

Ensembles

Hillier was born inDorchester,England in 1949, where he attended Hardye's Grammar School. In 1967 he became a music student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, studying voice.

In 1974 he co-founded theHilliard Ensemblealong with fellow vicar-choral Paul Elliott, tenor, and counter-tenor David James. His concert debut was in 1974 in London'sPurcell Room.Hillier remained the director of the ensemble until 1990, when he foundedTheatre of Voices.In addition to early music, this group explores more contemporary repertoire. With the Chicago-based ensemble His Majestie's Clerkes Hillier recorded early American repertoire such as the works ofWilliam Billingson the 1992 albumA Land of Pure Delight.

Hillier later became Director of the Early Music Institute at theIndiana UniversityJacobs School of Musicwhere he conducted the Pro Arte Singers. He left the E.M.I. in 2003, having meanwhile become Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of theEstonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir;he left the position in 2007.

Since 2003, Hillier has made his home in Copenhagen, where he is Chief Conductor of Theatre of Voices (1990-) andArs Nova (Copenhagen)(2003-2023). In 2008, he was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Conductor ofChamber Choir Ireland(then known as the National Chamber Choir of Ireland.)In February 2024, it was announced that this would be Hillier's sixteenth and final year as Artistic Director of Chamber Choir Ireland.

He continues to work with his own group, Theatre of Voices. THEATRE OF VOICES is an internationally recognized Danish vocal group which has close to 40 releases and several awards, including a Grammy and P2 awards. Theatre of Voices’ repertoire covers a wide range of genres and stretches from the earliest notated music to modern sound art installations and contemporary opera. The group was founded in London in 1990 by Paul Hillier and is considered one of the world's leading vocal ensembles. After some years in the USA, Hillier moved back to Europe in 2004 to settle in Denmark, where the ensemble is now based. In 2013, the group was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. This inspired commissioning of even more Nordic repertoire and resulted in a North Atlantic Tour in 2019 that included works from Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Denmark and Estonia featured on both concerts and local workshops.

Hillier has recorded a number of solo albums, some with harpistAndrew Lawrence-Kingon theHarmonia Mundi,ECM, EMI, Finlandia andHyperionlabels.

Academic appointments

From 1980, Hillier has held a variety of academic appointments over the years, most recently as Director of the Early Music Institute atIndiana University Bloomington.

Publications

• The Catch Book(1987), Oxford University Press,ISBN0-19-343649-3,a collection of catches (comicrounds) edited by Hillier.
• A Josquin Anthology(2005), Oxford University Press,ISBN0-19-353218-2,a collection of choral pieces byRenaissancecomposerJosquin des Prez,edited by Ross Duffin and Hillier.
• Writing on Music, 1965–2000(2002),Oxford University Press,ISBN0-19-511171-0,a collection of writings by composer Steve Reich, edited by Hillier.
• Arvo Pärt(1997), Oxford University Press,ISBN0-19-816616-8,The first English-language study (including a short biography) ofEstoniancomposerArvo Pärt.
• English Romantic Partsongs(1986), Oxford University Press,ISBN0-19-343650-7,a collection of songs edited by Hillier.
• 300 Years of English Partsongs: Glees, Rounds, Catches, Partsongs 1600-1900(1983),Faber & Faber,ISBN0-571-10045-7,a collection of music edited by Hillier.

External links

• Paul Hillier on Bach-Cantatas
• Paul Hillier on Harmonia Mundi
• Classical Archives interviewat theWayback Machine(archived 12 October 2012)