David Temple is a British conductor and musical director of Crouch End Festival Chorus[1] which he has conducted at the Barbican Centre, Royal Festival Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. He also appears regularly with Hertfordshire Chorus at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican, The Sage Gateshead and St Albans Cathedral.
He came to London in 1972 and joined the London Philharmonic Choir where he sang as a tenor under the chorus master John Alldis, performing with conductors including Boult, Stokowski, Solti, Haitink, Tennstedt, Barenboim, Giulini and Rattle. In 1984 he began his work with the newly formed Crouch End Festival Chorus, now a choir of international standing.
As chorus master of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, he worked closely with Ray Davies of The Kinks on his choral work The Flatlands, and collaborated with him on live performances in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 including a performance of The Village Green Preservation Society at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Crouch End Festival Chorus and Ray Davies plus band.
Crouch End Festival Chorus is one of the world’s leading symphonic choirs, a result achieved under the exclusive direction of David Temple, in his roles as conductor and chorus master. His imaginative and innovative programme planning, including several ambitious commissions, has brought the choir to the forefront of music-making in the UK.
David came to London in 1972 and joined the London Philharmonic Choir, where he sang as a tenor under chorus master John Alldis. He performed with many great conductors including Boult, Stokowski, Solti, Haitink, Tennstedt, Barenboim, Giulini and Rattle.
In 1984 he became musical director of the newly formed Crouch End Festival Chorus. Since then, CEFC has progressed from being a reputable local choral society to a choir of international standing, regularly drawing in substantial audiences at major London venues. David’s recent work with the choir includes the Berlioz Te Deum at the 2009 BBC Proms and Britten’s War Requiem at the Barbican.
David’s interests include pop and rock music, and he has worked with the rock band Travis, as well as with The Divine Comedy and Goldfrapp. David worked closely with Ray Davies of the Kinks on his choral piece The Flatlands, and singers from CEFC accompanied Ray and his band in the climactic concert of the BBC’s 2007 Electric Proms - followed by two performances at the Hampton Court Festival. David has now recorded an album of new choral versions of Kinks classics and has recently toured the USA with Ray Davies. The success of the choir’s work with Ennio Morricone led to an invitation to accompany superband Oasis in their concert at the 2008 Electric Proms.
Under David’s direction, CEFC singers have been invited several times to record background music for the BBC’s Doctor Who, and the choir has appeared on the soundtracks of numerous films, including the Hollywood blockbusters Journey to the Center of the Earth and Prince Caspian. David has worked regularly with film composers Gabriel Yared and Ennio Morricone, who is a patron of Crouch End Festival Chorus. Recent recordings with Crouch End Festival Chorus include Noel Gallagher, High Flying Birds: Ray Davies, The Kinks Choral Collection: Katherine Jenkins, Daydream. he has also directed the chorus on the soundtrack to the movie 'The Awakening' starring Rebecca Hall and Dominic West.
David has also been Musical Director of Hertfordshire Chorus since 2000. Hertfordshire Chorus’s latest commission is a work by Will Todd, Ode to a Nightingale, which premiered at the Barbican in May 2011.