Ledger, Philip (Stevens)
Ledger, Philip (Stevens)
Ledger, Philip (Stevens), noted English conductor, organist, harpsichordist, pianist, editor, and arranger; b. Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, Dec. 12, 1937. He was educated at King’s Coll., Cambridge, and at the Royal Coll. of Music, London. He served as Master of the Music at Chelmsford Cathedral (1962–65) and as director of music at the Univ. of East Anglia (1965–73), where he served as dean of the School of Fine Arts and Music (1968–71). In 1968 he was named an artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival; subsequently was engaged as conductor of the Cambridge Univ. Musical Soc. (1973) and director of music and organist at King’s Coll. (1974). In 1982 he was appointed principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He ed. The Oxford Book of English Madrigals (1978) and works of Byrd, Purcell, and Handel. A versatile musician, he is renowned as an elegant performer of early English music. In 1985 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire