Polyphony

Polyphony was formed by Stephen Layton in 1986 for a concert in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. Since then the choir has performed and recorded regularly to wide critical acclaim throughout the UK and abroad. For the last few years Polyphony has given annual sell-out performances of Bach's "St. John Passion" and Handel's "Messiah" at St. John's, Smith Square. These have become notable events in London's music calendar and have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and the EBU. Since its double BBC Proms debut in 1995, Polyphony's performance highlights include the world premiere of "Oceanos" by James Dillon, Schnittke's Symphony No. 2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and premiere performances in collaboration with Arvo Part and John Tavener. The choir has built an extensive discography, its recordings frequently appearing as record of the month in "Gramophone", "BBC Music", and "Classic fM" magazines.

Most recently, Polyphony's album "Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst and other choral works" was nominated for a Grammy in Best Choral Performance, 2007.