Grayston "Bill" Ives (born 1948) is a British composer, singer and choral director. Until March 2009, he was Organist, Informator Choristarum and Fellow and Tutor in Music at Magdalen College, Oxford. In this role he was responsible for the daily musical life of the college chapel. He also directed the choir in recordings on the Harmonia Mundi label, including 'With a Merrie Noyse', made with the viol consort Fretwork, and featuring the works of the English composer, Orlando Gibbons, for which the choir was nominated for a Grammy award. The choristers of Magdalen College Choir recorded on Sir Paul McCartney's Ecce cor Meum which won the Classical BRIT Award for Album of the Year. His most recent recordings with Magdalen Choir include a selection of his own liturgical works, 'Listen Sweet Dove', a disc of Durufle's 'Requiem', and a Christmas CD, 'Carols By Candlelight'.
Ives was a chorister at Ely Cathedral and later studied music at Cambridge University where he held a choral scholarship at Selwyn College. After teaching music for a period, he became a member of the King's Singers, from 1978 to 1985.[1] His voice can be heard on a number of recordings from that period, including Paul McCartney's Frog Chorus. Ives composes as Grayston, but prefers to be known as Bill, a nickname he acquired at school as a result of a role-playing game with his brother.
As a composer, Ives' work consists mainly of sacred and secular music for choir, much of it written for the liturgy at Magdalen College, Oxford. His Canterbury Te Deum (1991) for SATB and Brass Quintet was commissioned for the enthronement of George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was commissioned to compose the centre-piece anthem, 'The Gift of Grace', for the commemoration service, held in Westminster Abbey in March 2007, for the Abolition of Slavery. It was attended by many high-ranking politicians and public figures, including Tony Blair, British Prime Minister (1997-2007) and HM Queen Elizabeth II. In 2007 Ives was commissioned to write an anthem to celebrate the 10th birthday of the girls’ choir at Derby Cathedral. The Beatitudes received its first performance at a special Evensong on 15 September 2007.
Bill Ives has recently been recognised for his contribution to church music with a Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music (May 2008) and the award of a Lambeth DMus by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is also an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.