Musical Director

Ben Parry - Conductor

Ben Parry is an established conductor, composer, arranger, singer and producer in both classical and light music fields. He has made over fifty CD recordings and his compositions and arrangements are published by Peters Edition and Faber Music, including the popular Faber Carol Book, Music for Special Occasions and the Choir Rocks! series. He works extensively with young musicians as a director of the Eton Choral Courses and as former Director of Music at St Paul’s School in London, succeeding Jonathan Willcocks as Director of Junior Academy in 2009.

Ben is co-Director of the professional choir London Voices, and has worked with Sir Paul McCartney on his new classic choral work, Ecce Cor Meum, as well as conducting on the soundtracks of major films such as The Golden Compass, Kung Fu Panda and Inkheart. He is presently writing a chamber opera with author and lyricist Garth Bardsley as well as the music for a stage adaptation of Gilbert Adair’s Love and death on Long Island.

Ben originally studied Music and History of Art at Cambridge University, where he was a member of King’s College Choir. And later he was musical director and singer with The Swingle Singers, with whom he toured the world and performed with some of the greatest musicians, including Pierre Boulez, Stephane Grapelli and Dizzy Gillespie - he composed and arranged over fifty pieces for the group.

For eight years Ben lived in Scotland, where he co-founded the distinguished vocal ensemble Dunedin Consort, and was also Director of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus and Director of Choral Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. As an orchestral conductor he was worked with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville, The Scottish Ensemble and the Vancouver Youth Symphony. He conducted five productions from 1999 as Music Director of Haddo House Opera. He has sung with the Gabrieli Consort, Taverner Consort, The Schütz Choir and Tenebrae, as well as on many film and TV soundtracks.

www.benparry.org