Roger Norrington

Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington (born March 16, 1934) is a British conductor best known for performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music using period instruments and period style.

Norrington studied at Clare College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music under Adrian Boult among others. He worked as a tenor through the 1960s, and in 1962 founded the Schütz Choir (later the Schütz Choir of London). From 1969 to 1984 he was music director of Kent Opera. In 1978 he founded the London Classical Players and remained their musical director until 1997 when he became principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has held a number of other conducting posts.

Norrington's quick tempos and very limited use of vibrato have brought him both acclaim and criticism. He scupulously follows Ludwig van Beethoven's metronome marks in his symphonies, which most conductors feel are too quick to be practicable.

Norrington was awarded an OBE in 1980, a CBE in 1990 and a knight in 1997.

Roger Norrington is the brother of Humphrey Thomas Norrington, vice-chairman of Barclays Bank from 1991 to 1993.