Paul Spicer

Paul Spicer is best known as the founder and conductor of the London-based choral ensemble the Finzi Singers. With this popular 18-member group, Spicer has made numerous recordings and given countless concerts not only in the London area but throughout the U.K. and abroad. Spicer and his ensemble specialize in 20th century British choral music, a category that would of course take in music by the group's namesake, Gerald Finzi, as well as works by Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Moeran, Walton, Tippett, and many others. Although on the international scene Spicer's career has been closely identified with the Finzi Singers, he has also served, often concurrently, as conductor of four other choral ensembles: the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir, Whitehall Choir, Birmingham Bach Choir, and the Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir. In addition, Spicer is on the faculty at the Royal College of Music as a professor of choral conducting. If this weren't enough, he is also very active as a composer, regularly receiving prestigious commissions and performances at such venues as Wigmore Hall and at the Lichfield Festival. Spicer's output takes in much choral music, but also includes chamber, orchestral, and various instrumental and solo vocal works. Spicer's recordings are available on a variety of labels, including Chandos, Hyperion, and Regent Records, the latter issuing a fair number of Spicer's own compositions. Paul Spicer was born in Bowdon, England, in 1952. He was a chorister at New College, Oxford University, and studied music at London's Royal College of Music under Herbert Howells and, for organ performance, Richard Popplewell. From 1974-1984 Spicer taught music at the Uppingham School and Ellesmere College. In 1984 he accepted a post as producer for BBC Radio 3, and two years later became a senior producer for the Midlands Region. Spicer founded the Finzi Singers in 1987, and from 1990-2001 served as artistic director of the Lichfield International Arts Festival and director of the Abbotsholme Arts Society. Meanwhile, Spicer was quite busy as a composer: his 1984 choral work Come out, Lazar (CD available on Regent Records, from 2009), 1987-1988 Piano Sonata (for Margaret Fingerhut), and 2000 Easter Oratorio, for vocal soloists, choirs, and orchestra were gaining notice. Spicer also continued to work as a record producer and concert organist. Among Spicer's later works is the 2009 Advent Oratorio: The Biblical Hope of the Coming Of God, for vocal soloists, choirs, organ, and orchestra.