Benjamin Britten is one most important British composers from the second half of the twentieth century. Remarkably, he focused on opera, a dying genre, at least in its current form. Britten's contributions however, among which Peter Grimes, The Rape of Lucretia, Gloriana, The Turn of the Screw, and Death in Venice, managed to remain core repertoire for opera companies to this day. Many of these productions included a role for his artistic partner and life companion Peter Pears. Britten also wrote a number of lieder for this tenor, among which his Serenade for tenor, horn and string orchestra. Yet, Britten excelled in many more genres. He wasn't even 20 years old when he composed his brilliant Phantasy for hobo quartet and his friendship with the legendary cellist Rostropovich led to a Cello sonata, three Suites for cello solo and a Symphony for Cello and orchestra in the 1960s.

Britten never became Master of the Queen's Music, yet he surely had feeling for public sentiments. For example, as a pacifist, he taught his people about world peace through his War Requiem from 1962. Britten was an excellent interpreter of his own work, just like Bartók and Stravinsky. Many of his recordings have been matched, but never exceeded.

The name Palestrina might remind you of strict, proper counterpoint and boring music lessons. And this image isn't new; even before his death, Palestrina was already portrayed as a legendary master of counterpoint. His body of work commands respect with more than 100 missas, 300 motets and many more other religious works. And all of them written with flawless mastery of the composition techniques of his Franco-Flamish predecessors. Besides the quantity and quality of his work, the council of Trent added to this image. The council wished to reform the music of the catholic church: all excessive and secular elements should be withdrawn and the text had the in the foreground, intelligibly. One story tells that it was Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli which was performed during the council to test the intelligibility. Another myth portrays Palestrina as the saviour of sacred music. In any way, Palestrina was the most central composer in Rome during the 16th century, and his stature lasts to this day. At times, his music is depicted as boring, but if you would give it a listen you will soon find out this is a myth as well!

Gibbons was an English composer, virginalist and organist of the Golden Century of English music. His career started in Cambride, after which he was named organist of the Chapel Royal. Later, he became of the Virginals of Jams I and in 1623 he was named organist of the Westminster Abbey. Gibbons wrote a large number of madrigals and plenty of sacred music, yet he is mostly known for his instrumental music. He is seen as the succesor of William Byrd. Gibbons died of an acute stroke. His son, Christopher Gibbons, grew to fame too, as he composed Cupid and Death together with Mathew Locke, a masque on a libretto by James Shirley, which is now considered as one of the first English operas.

Born in London, James Burton began singing and playing the piano at an early age. He was a boy chorister at Westminster Abbey where, as well as singing at many state occasions, he started improvising at the piano: the school’s film club played mostly silent movies and the musical accompaniment was provided by the boys. James has gone on to become an outstanding musical communicator in a variety of musical genres. Well known as an orchestral and opera conductor, he is also one of the UK’s leading choral conductors, and a respected composer and arranger.
A graduate of Cambridge University and the Peabody Conservatory, James has conducted concerts with leading UK orchestras including the RLPO, the OAE, the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, Royal Northern Sinfonia and also the Hallé with whom he has had a long and fruitful relationship. James’s operatic conducting has included Don Giovanni and La Bohème at ENO, and Cosi fan tutte for English Touring Opera. James has worked at the Metropolitan Opera, Opera de Paris and Opera Rara, and in 2012 he conducted The Magic Flute at West Green for Garsington Opera from whom he received the Leonard Ingrams Award for outstanding work.
James is widely known for his choral conducting and has enjoyed guest invitations with the Gabrieli Consort, the Wrocław Philharmonic Choir and the BBC Singers. He was Choral Director at the Hallé from 2002-9, and under his leadership the Hallé Choir and the Hallé Youth Choir, which he founded in 2003, received outstanding critical coverage for their performances and recordings. Their recording of The Dream of Gerontius received the 2009 Gramophone Choral Award. James is Music Director of the renowned chamber choir Schola Cantorum of Oxford with which he has toured Argentina, China, Italy, France, Mexico, Poland and the USA, made recordings and appeared frequently on BBC TV and radio.
James is a published composer, and commissions have included the music for the 2010 World Equestrian Games opening ceremony, an orchestral album with the folk legend Arlo Guthrie and a large scale choral/ orchestral work for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. His most recent work was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery as part of its World War I commemorations, and a new carol will be premiered next year by the choir of St John’s College, Cambridge.