Adrian Partington

Adrian Partington is a musician of rare versatility—a successful conductor, chorus master, pianist and organist.

In January 2008, he became Director of Music at Gloucester Cathedral, and joint conductor of the Three Choirs Festival. He is also Artistic Director of the BBC National Chorus of Wales, Conductor of the Bristol Choral Society, Conductor of the Gloucester Choral Society and Director of the new and highly-innovative choral conducting course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Since his arrival at Gloucester’s magnificent Cathedral, he has directed the choir in broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, in the Three Choirs Festival 2009 in Hereford, recorded a CD with the Cathedral choir singing the works of John Joubert and undertaken a highly-successful tour of the U.S.A. in 2008. 2010 is his first year as Festival Director of the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester.

Since his BBC appointment in 1999, Adrian has prepared the BBCNCW for over a 100 concerts and recordings for BBC Radio 3, many of which he has conducted himself. He has conducted broadcast concerts in Hoddinott Hall the BBC’s new concert hall in Cardiff. He has also prepared choirs for some of the greatest conductors of our time e.g. Haitink, Abbado, Rattle, Tortelier and Elder. He collaborated with the late Richard Hickox on many CDs, including Stanford’s “Revenge” which won a Gramophone award in 2006.

Under Adrian's guidance, Bristol Choral Society remains one of the U.K.’s leading big city choirs, and gives its principal concerts with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted most of the standard large choral-orchestral repertoire in the past decade: Elgar, Walton, Tippett, Bruckner, Verdi, Vaughan Williams, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Alongside this he is Director of Music of Gloucester Choral Society who have recently initiated a youth membership section to encourage young adults to take part in choral music making.

Adrian has directed many of the country’s principal choruses –The BBC Symphony Chorus (e.g. for the opening night of the Proms in 2005), The London Symphony Chorus, The Philharmonia Chorus and the Bach Choir. He has also worked with many of the UK’s leading orchestras: regularly conducting the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff, and the Philharmonia; he has directed the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Opera Galas, Summer Proms and in the Vaughan Williams Anniversary celebrations in Gloucester Cathedral in May 2008. He has toured with t he Mozart Festival Orchestra in the U.K. and Ireland, and has conducted the Philharmonia, the English Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic at the Three Choirs Festival.

When not conducting, Adrian is active as a pianist and organist. He performs with the international Baroque violinist, Margaret Faultless, giving festival recitals both in the UK and Germany, and plays continuo with the ECO, Florilegium – and Collegium Musicum 90, featuring on many Chandos CDs.

Adrian broadcasts frequently on both BBC Radio 3 and 4, making programmes with Aled Jones and others on such varied topics as the use of wordless choruses in symphonic music, multi-chorus music, preparing choirs for the Proms, Mendelssohn’s spirituality, the life of the late Richard Hickox, and Elgar’s church music.

Adrian was Organ Scholar at King's College, Cambridge and subsequently enjoyed organist's posts at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle and Worcester Cathedral. He has recorded a dozen solo organ CDs on various cathedral organs.