Barnaby Smith

Conductor / Artistic Director / Countertenor

https://www.barnabysmith.net/

Grammy-nominated, Barnaby Smith is Artistic Director of the internationally renowned vocal ensemble VOCES8, LIVE From London digital festivals, and the UK and US arms of The VOCES8 Foundation including its ensembles (Apollo5, Lyyra, The VOCES8 Foundation Choir), its Digital Academy and Milton Abbey International Festival and Summer School. Barnaby is in demand as a conductor, presenter, filmmaker, educator, countertenor and arranger.

Amongst a busy touring schedule with VOCES8 and ensembles around the world, recent projects have included Barnaby’s debuts conducting: Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Vaughan Williams and Tin which was awarded 5* by ArtsHub: “The Lost Birds conducted with abundant energy and great detail”; Nederlandse ReisOpera in Handel Messiah; Brahms Ein Deutches Requiem; the English Chamber Orchestra in Bach, Barber, Elgar and Faure; directing Jack Liebeck and VOCES8 in a new programme at a sold-out Sydney Opera House; directing and soloing in Bach Cantatas for Inon Barnatan’s La Jolla Summerfest; directing two solo-recordings Handel & Bach with the Illyria Consort, of which Gramophone notes that there is “no denying the refined beauty and sheer skill of Smith’s performance” as well as producing and presenting the 14th LIVE From London Festival. Collaborations with Eric Whitacre and Paul Simon continued, resulting in two new albums – Home (reaching No.1 in the Classical Album chart and awarded a BBC Music Magazine Choral and Song Choice) and Seven Psalms (which garnered wide-ranging 5-star reviews and high praise from Rolling Stone magazine).

Conducting VW The Lark Ascending (new adaption for soloist, choir, orch): Jack Liebeck with The VOCES8 Foundation Choir and Orchestra in LIVE From London/RVW Anniversary concert

Upcoming conducting/solo projects include: opening Festival Bach de Lausanne in a programme from Bach with the Illyria Consort; conducting world premiere commissions for choir and orchestra by Jocelyn Hagen (Rose Ever Blooming) and Taylor Scott Davis (Requiem Idyll); conducting The VOCES8 Foundation’s 20th anniversary concert at the Barbican, London in June 2025; his debut conducting the Edvard Grieg Vokal Ensemble for The Bergen Kirkeautunnale. Barnaby is increasingly asked to present both for radio and television, regularly appearing on media platforms around the world.

Barnaby has performed at many of the world’s prestigious festivals and halls including BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Sydney Opera House, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, La Seine Musicale and Cité de la Musique in Paris, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, BOZAR in Brussels, Tokyo Opera City, NCPA Beijing, Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and Vienna Konzerthaus.

Conducting Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture : The VOCES8 Foundation Orchestra in LIVE From London/RVW Anniversary concert

William Walton: The Twelve from LIVE From London featuring VOCES8 Foundation Choir, Peter Holder, and Barnaby Smith

Barnaby has conducted orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, Australian National Academy of Music, English Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Monte Carlo Symphony and he directed the music for the Olympic Mascots Film Scores at Abbey Road Studios with the British Film Orchestra. He conducted the VOCES8 Foundation Choir and Orchestra in the premiere of Christopher Tin The Lost Birds alongside new arrangements of Eric Whitacre Sleep, Caroline Shaw and the swallow, and a new adaptation of The Lark Ascending for violin, choir, and orchestra.

Barnaby’s collaborations have included projects with Paul Simon, Rachel Podger, Roderick Williams, Christina Pluhar, Jack Liebeck, Masaki Suzuki, Jacob Collier, Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre, Jonathan Dove and Christopher Tin amongst others. Digital collaborations have included The Sixteen, the English Chamber Orchestra, Gabrieli Consort & Players, The King’s Singers, The Tallis Scholars, The Ringmasters, the Academy of Ancient Music and Chanticleer.

On disc Barnaby has released albums with record labels including Decca Classics, Universal, Sony, Warner, Naxos, Signum Classics and VOCES8 Records. He has six No.1 albums to his credit and has won numerous awards including Classic FM Album of the Year. He has released two solo albums on VOCES8 Records, Handel, with guest Mary Bevan in October 2021 and Bach with the Illyria Consort in February 2023. Barnaby conducted the Philharmonia for the world premiere recording of Mårten Jansson and Charles Anthony Silvestri’s Requiem Novum.

Barnaby Smith: Bach - Introduction Reel (Barnaby Smith, Katie Jeffries-Harris & The Illyria Consort)

Overture from The Magic Flute – Mozart

Recent releases with VOCES8 include Infinity (Decca Classics), After Silence (VOCES8 Records) and Home (Decca Classics). Recent albums include Decca’s Christmas 2023 release A Choral Christmas on which Barnaby conducts festive works alongside Taylor Scott Davis’ Magnificat; To Sing of Love with Jack Liebeck and the VOCES8 Foundation Choir & Orchestra including Britten Rejoice in the Lamb, Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending and Taylor Scott Davis To Sing of Love. Upcoming albums include Nightfall for Decca and Pergolesi Stabat Mater due in 2025.

For further projects and for print, please download Barnaby’s full biography.