Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson became Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in September 2021, following thirteen years at St Paul’s Cathedral. Described by Gramophone magazine as ‘A brilliant and sensitive musician’, he was involved in all of the national occasions that took place at St Paul’s, and an active recital schedule takes him regularly to the USA and to many of the great venues in Europe, including a Royal Festival Hall debut in 2017. At Westminster he directs the world famous choir in concerts, tours, recordings and in the daily Opus Dei. He has performed with groups such as the LSO, RPO, City of London Sinfonia, and The Sixteen, recorded for Decca, Coro, Hyperion and Chandos, been published by OUP and Peters, collaborated with NASA and the International Space Station, and also worked on the Oscar-winning soundtrack for The Grand Budapest Hotel. His most recent recording, B-A-C-H Anatomy of a motif, has attracted widespread critical acclaim.

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    The Choir of Westminster Cathedral is the crowning jewel of Catholic church music and has been at the forefront of English sacred music since its foundation in 1901. This new disc draws us into the mystery of the Paschal Vigil, the very apex of the Church’s liturgical year, transporting us on a journey from darkness into light through a sequence of plainsong and polyphony.