Simon Halsey

Simon Halsey is a sought-after consultant in choral singing worldwide and collaborates with orchestras and conductors around the globe. He is Artistic Advisor and Chorus Master of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and also holds positions as Guest Conductor and Choral Ambassador of Orfeó Català, Chorus Master of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Choirs, Guest Conductor of the WDR Radio Choir, Honorary Conductor of the Berlin Radio Choir, and Chorus Master Emeritus of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

During the 2025/26 season, Halsey prepared the Prague Philharmonic Choir for performances of Dallapiccola’s “Il Prigioniero” with the Czech Philharmonic under Antonio Pappano and returned for several weeks to his long-standing partner, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of his engagements this season include Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé” suite with the Oslo Philharmonic and Kazuki Yamada, Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius” with the CBSO, also under Yamada, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with Joyce DiDonato, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, and the Berlin Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as performances of the “human requiem” with Orfeó Català.

Halsey’s numerous awards include three Grammys for recordings with the Rundfunkchor Berlin. In 2015, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire; in 2014, he received the Queen’s Medal for Music; and in 2011, he was awarded the Cross of Merit, First Class, of the Federal Republic of Germany for his outstanding contributions to choral music in Germany. His career is the subject of the documentary film “Unsere Herzen – Ein Klang” (Our Hearts – One Sound), which was released in theaters in September 2022.

Simon Halsey was born in London, sang in the choirs of New College in Oxford and King’s College in Cambridge, and studied conducting at the Royal College of Music in London.