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Percy Grainger was known during his lifetime as a virtuoso pianist and arranger of popular English folk song. His primary contribution to music, however, lies in his prolific output as a composer of expert and highly original works. Grainger's early years were spent in Melbourne where he studied first with his mother, and later with Louis Pabst. From 1895-1899 he attended the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany, and then settled in London in 1901. The next 10 years or so were devoted to a combination of concert touring and folk song collection. Grainger's early reputation was as a brilliant and eccentric pianist, and it was this talent that not only provided his income for the rest of his life, but also brought him into contact with other composers. Grieg and Delius, in particular, had great influence on Grainger's development of a sympathy and sensitivity toward unique national and folk styles. In 1914, Grainger moved to New York, beginning a long career as a composer, arranger, collector of folk music, and educator; he became an American citizen in 1918. In 1925 and 1927 he collected and published over 200 Danish folk songs, and returned to Australia in 1924, 1926, and from 1934-1935 in order to establish a Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne devoted to ethnomusicological research. His final years were spent completing and arranging his earlier works and trying to develop a workable form of his "free music" using primarily theremins, one of the earliest electronic instruments. The project remained incomplete, and Grainger died embittered and in relative obscurity, known only for a handful of light works that he referred to derogatorily as his "fripperies."

Early in his life, Grainger rejected the central European tradition of Western classical music, seeking instead a "democratic" music that was more closely related to natural sounds, speech, and world music. In his quest to assimilate as much unique musical culture as possible, Grainger became one of the first ethnomusicologists to use the wax cylinder phonograph in the collection and transcription of indigenous music. His arrangements of many of these are among the best ever done, capturing not only the melodies and harmonies, but also the timbres, inflections, and performance styles of each individual piece. In his own compositions, Grainger experimented with nontraditional rhythms, forms, and instrumental combinations in an attempt to create what he called "free music." He also created a large body of more traditional works and arrangements intended for more popular consumption, motivated, no doubt, by his experience with the Edwardian music hall and later with the U.S. Army Band .

Richard Hickox was one of the most active and well-known conductors in Britain, with a strong international reputation, especially for performing music of his native country. He began conducting at the age of 16 and, after studies at the Royal College of Music and Queen's College, where he was an organ scholar, he founded the City of London Sinfonia in 1971, of which he remained musical director until his death.

In 1972 he became organist and master of music at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, remaining in that position until 1982. In 1977 he was appointed conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and in 1982 became the music director of the Northern Sinfonia in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He is credited with re-establishing that orchestra as an ensemble of stature, confirmed by a highly successful tour of the United States and a complete Beethoven symphony recording cycle for the ASV label. He was associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1985, and took the same title at the London Symphony Orchestra in 1985. He shared leadership duties with Simon Standage for Collegium Musicum 90, a period-instrument group the two founded.

All this activity made Hickox a very familiar face on the British music scene. With his various choral and orchestral ensembles he frequently appeared at the major British music festivals and at the BBC Proms Concerts. He participated in several notable special projects, including a BBC video production of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and an appearance in the Istanbul Festival leading a production of Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio inside the actual sultans' seraglio in the Topkapi Museum. He also provided music for a Ken Russell film for the BBC on the wives of great composers.

In the 1990s he increased his involvement with opera, leading new productions of Handel's Julius Caesar in Berlin, Walton's Troilus and Cressida in a live BBC broadcast of an Opera North production, and Vaughan Williams' Pilgrim's Progress at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He conducted a televised production of Britten's Turn of the Screw on the BBC in 2004.

He guest conducted around the world, including frequent appearances with the Los Angeles Opera and the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo. He made over 300 recordings and won numerous awards, including a Gramophon Award in 1992 for his account of Britten's War Requiem, and three Gramophone Awards, a Diapason d'Or, the Deutsche Schalplattenpreis, and a Grammy for his recording of Britten's Peter Grimes in 1995 on the Chandos label, probably the most honored classical recording of the last quarter of the twentieth century. His recordings appeared on the ASV, Argo, EMI, and Virgin labels, and in the early '90s he had been an exclusive Chandos artist. More recording awards were received in 2001 and 2006 for the music of Vaughan Williams and Stanford, respectively. In 2005, he was appointed director of the Opera Australia. Hickox died of a heart attack following a recording session in Wales in November 2008.

Although he has a solid reputation as a conductor of the standard repertory, Matthias Bamert is best known for his work on behalf of new music, obscure 18th century music, and neglected music from all eras (especially in a long series of recordings for Chandos). He is also known for his participation in provocative classical music videos directed by Adrian Marthaler. Bamert studied music in his native Switzerland, as well as in Darmstadt and Paris, falling in with the likes of Boulez and Stockhausen; these associations can be detected in his own compositions from the 1970s. He spent from 1965 to 1969 as principal oboist with the Salzburg Mozart Orchestra, but then switched to conducting. He assisted Stokowski at the American Symphony Orchestra in 1970 and 1971, then joined the Cleveland Orchestra's conducting staff. He was music director of the Swiss Radio Orchestra (1977-1983), then began making a wider reputation across Europe. He was principal guest conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra from 1985 to 1990. Bamert served as artistic director of the Lucerne Festival (1992-1998) (where he made inroads in thematic programming) and of the London Mozart Players (1993-2000). In 2000, he became principal guest conductor of the New Zealand Symphony. Bamert is known to be a quick study, able to master new scores in very little time, and bring off highly effective premieres in concert and on CD. His most notable recordings include symphonies of Gossec, concert music by Korngold, the orchestral works of Martin, and a series devoted to Stokowski arrangements.

The City of London Sinfonia is a medium-sized group that often collaborates with choirs and opera companies. The group has a major presence in London's concert life, appearing everywhere from traditional concert halls to clubs.

The City of London Sinfonia, often CLS, was founded in 1971 by conductor Richard Hickox, who shaped the group fundamentally and remained its music director until 2008. It was originally called the Richard Hickox Orchestra. The group collaborated with choirs from the beginning, appearing in a 1973 performance of Handel's Messiah at a Royal Albert Hall Promenade concert. The CLS made its first recording in 1975, issuing an album of Bach masses on the Argo label. The change to the name City of London Sinfonia came in 1979 when the group was installed as resident ensemble at the still-under-construction Barbican Centre. The CLS began its international career with a tour of West Germany in 1985 and has continued to tour in many countries, often annually. In the mid-'80s, the CLS made several recordings for the Collegium label of music by John Rutter with the Cambridge Singers. The group began a new residency at the summer Opera Holland Park company in 2004 and continues to hold that position as of the mid-2020s.

The group often collaborates with both choral ensembles and opera companies and in 1997, its recording of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes won a Grammy Award. The group has a large repertory ranging from the Baroque to contemporary works; in its earlier years, it often focused on British music. Michael Collins was named principal conductor in 2010, with Stephen Layton serving as artistic director; since 2017, the group has been led by violinist Alexandra Wood in the position of creative director. The orchestra's recording catalog is vast, although its pace slowed somewhat in the 2010s; it has recorded for Chandos, Signum Classics, Hyperion, and many other labels. In 2023, the CLS backed The Wimbledon Choral Society on a Signum Classics recording of Cecilia McDowall's Da Vinci Requiem and 70 Degrees Below Zero. By that time, the group's recording catalog comprised more than 60 digital items, plus earlier releases during the LP era. ~ James Manheim

A leading chamber choir in the United Kingdom and Europe, the Joyful Company of Singers offers a broad repertoire of music from the Renaissance to works by contemporary composers. The group is committed to performing new music, giving many world premieres, and to furthering music education through special programs. In 1988, the choir was founded by choral conductor Peter Broadbent, and in 1990, the group won the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year Competition, subsequently giving it a high profile at music festivals and leading to many radio broadcasts. The JCS has performed at the Bath International Music Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts, the Cheltenham Music Festival, the City of London Festival, the Three Choirs Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and the BBC Proms, as well as at numerous musical festivals and other events across Europe. The choir has also visited the United States, and performed at Stanford University and the National Convention of the American Choral Directors' Association. Among the many composers who have composed music for the JCS are Alun Hoddinott, Roxanna Panufnik, Kaija Saariaho, Roderick Elms, David Bedford, Michael Berkeley, Judith Bingham, and Jonathan Harvey. ~ Blair Sanderson

Stephen Varcoe is one of Britain’s most successful and respected classical baritone vocalists. He has appeared on over 150 recordings of mostly songs, but also several operas with a focus on British composers. Varcoe was born into a musical family in 1949, in Lostwithiel, a small town in Cornwall, England. His father was a violinist, and his mother was a pianist, and when he was young, his parents held small gatherings in their home where they performed chamber music with their friends. At age six, he began playing the piano and started taking lessons. From the ages eight through thirteen, he attended the Canterbury Cathedral school and studied with Allan Wicks. He went on to King’s School, Canterbury and eventually stopped practicing the piano so he could focus solely on singing. After graduating, he studied math and law at King’s College, Cambridge, and he won a scholarship to sing in the King’s College Choir conducted by David Willcocks. Here he received vocal instruction from John Carol Case, and Wilfred Brown. From 1970 to 1971, he studied German and French song, and Baroque music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Arthur Reckless. Varcoe also started an a cappella ensemble called “the Scholars” with friends that he knew from the King’s College Choir. Other employment from this time includes work with the BBC radio, and touring Australia and New Zealand singing contemporary music with conductor John Alldis. In 1977 he won the first prize in the Gulbekian competition, which enabled him to pursue his solo career, initially delving into Baroque song. In the early '80s, Varcoe decided that he wanted to record songs by Gerald Finzi, but the idea was rejected by several record labels. However, he was later approached by Finzi's widow, who invited him to record the songs with the Hyperion label. This proved to be the beginning of a very long and prosperous relationship with Hyperion that has produced many recordings of French songs, English songs, and lieder. Throughout the '90s, Varcoe recorded cantatas by J.S. Bach with conductor John Eliot Gardiner, and he also sang in the premiere performance of Tavener's opera Mary of Egypt. In 2000, with pianist Clifford Benson, he released the critically acclaimed albums Stanford Songs in two volumes, followed by an intense study and analysis of the feelings and psychology of lyrics in the context of song. This led to Varcoe completing his PhD in the field of "communication in song" at the University of York in 2009. As an educator, he gives lectures, masterclasses, and workshops at universities, and he especially enjoys coaching individual singers. He and his wife also host informal singing workshops and performances at their farmhouse as part of their annual "Summer Music at Ansells" series. ~ RJ Lambert