Born in Exeter, and now local to Northampton, Simon Toyne
received his musical training as a chorister in Exeter
Cathedral Choir, later becoming Organ Scholar of University
College, Oxford. For 24 years, he was Director of the Tiffin
Boys’ Choir, preparing them for projects with the major
conductors in the world, including Pappano, Rattle, Gergiev,
Maazel, Elder, Masur and Salonen, leading the choir on over
twenty foreign tours, including to Australia, New Zealand,
the USA and Russia, and conducting the choir in concert with
the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players,
Sinfonia Britannica and Philharmonia Orchestra. As Director
of Music at All Saints’ Church, Kingston, a post he held
consecutively with that of Assistant Head & Director of
Music at Tiffin School, the choir broadcast on BBC1, Radio 4
and World Service Radio, and over 20 choristers gained
choral scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge.
He has worked as a chorus master for the London Symphony
Chorus and Royal Choral Society and assisted the music staff
for the Royal Opera in productions of Lohengrin and
Tosca. He has conducted most of the oratorio
repertoire with the 250-strong Tiffin Oratorio Choir,
including the Bach Magnificat, John and Matthew
Passions and Mass in B minor, Handel Messiah,
Requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi, Fauré and Duruflé, Elgar
The Dream of Gerontius, Tippett A Child of our
Time, Mendelssohn Elijah, Janacek Glagolitic
Mass and Walton Belshazzar’s Feast. As Music
Director of Riverside Opera, his operatic conducting
included La traviata, Nabucco, La Forza del
Destino, Carmen, Macbeth, Eugene Onegin,
Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, Samson
et Dalila and La belle Helène.
Since 2015, he has been Executive Director of Music of the
David Ross Education Trust, where he is responsible for the
development of a music programme for over 14,500 children
across 34 state primary and secondary schools in London, the
East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber. His work at
DRET has
included the award-winning Singing Schools programme for
primary schools, developing a Trust-wide primary and
secondary music curriculum, fostering a network of partner
organisations including Gabrieli Roar, Nevill Holt Opera,
Sing Up, the Royal Opera House and the Voices Foundation,
creating a team of professional musicians in residence, and
establishing a talent development programme.
Simon currently serves on the monitoring board for the
National Plan for Music Education, having been President of
the Music Teachers Association and a member of the
Government’s Expert Panels for both the National Plan for
Music Education and the Model Music Curriculum. His chapter
on curriculum music in the recent book What Should
Schools Teach? was published in January 2021 and is
available as an open access pdf from UCL Press.
Simon has been a Director of the Rodolfus Foundation Choral
Courses since 2012, directing courses for singers aged 16-24
each summer, including broadcasts of Choral Evensong on BBC
Radio 3. He was appointed Music Director of the Northampton
Bach Choir in May 2023: his first season includes Haydn
Creation, Arnold Song of Simeon, Bach St John
Passion, Verdi Requiem and a summer concert of
opera choruses. |
