Hillier appointed to chamber choir

The National Chamber Choir has announced the appointment of internationally celebrated English conductor Paul Hillier (58) to the positions of artistic director and chief conductor.

Hillier, who has been appointed for a five-year term from June 2008, was a co-founder of the renowned vocal quartet, the Hilliard Ensemble, in 1973, and in 1990 formed a new group, Theatre of Voices, with whom he recently issued an acclaimed recording of the late Karlheinz Stockhausen's 1960s classic, Stimmung.

From 1996 to 2003 Hillier was the director of the Early Music Institute of Indiana University's School of Music in Bloomington. He was the principal conductor of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir from 2001 to 2007 and has been principal conductor of Ars Nova Copenhagen since 2003. He is also author of the only published English-language study of the music of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

Commenting on his appointment, Hillier promised to have the choir "deepen its relationships with Irish composers in order to create a new body of contemporary vocal music for Ireland". He takes up his new post with the 74-member professional choir next August.