Hilary Davan Wetton, “one of Britain’s finest choral conductors” (London Daily Mail),  is Musical Director of the City of London Choir and Founder/conductor of the Holst Singers. Conductor Emeritus of the Guildford Choral Society, he is also Associate Conductor of the London Mozart Players and Conductor Emeritus of the Milton Keynes City Orchestra. 

Educated at Oxford University and the Royal College of Music, Hilary studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult and was awarded the Ricordi conducting prize in 1967. Over a career spanning 50 years, he is particularly admired for his interpretations of twentieth-century British music, conducting many first performances for living British composers as well as neglected works by Parry, Holst, Dyson, Bridge, Sterndale Bennett and Samuel Wesley. 

His extensive discography includes recordings for Hyperion with both the Holst Singers and Guildford Choral Society, and acclaimed recordings for Collins Classics with the LPO, including Holst’s Planets and Elgar’s Enigma Variations.  He received the Diapason d’Or for Holst’s Choral Symphony (Hyperion, 1994). In Terra Pax: A Christmas Anthology (Naxos, 2009) reached number two in the Gramophone classical chart and enjoyed wide critical success.  Flowers of the Field (Naxos, 2014) with the City of London Choir, London Mozart Players, Roderick Williams and Jeremy Irons went quickly to number one in the Specialist Classical Chart. His most recent release with the CLC, The Nation’s Favourite Carols, recorded with the RPO for Decca, topped the classical charts throughout December 2017. 

Outside the UK, Hilary has conducted in Albuquerque, Seattle. Sydney, Singapore, Bulgaria and Iceland. In 2001 he led the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra in a tour of Scandinavia, where his concerts were broadcast on Norwegian and Danish Radio, to much critical acclaim.

Future plans include Carmina Burana with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall, London, his first concert with the Jersey Symphony Orchestra in his new role as Music Director there and concerts for the English Music Festival and City of London Festival. 

Hilary broadcasts frequently for the BBC and Classic FM; for six years, he was presenter/conductor for Classic FM’s Masterclass series. He has been awarded honorary degrees by the Open University and De Montfort University and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Twitter: @HilaryConductor