Paul Hillier
Illustration — Members of the Kronos Quartet with Paul Hillier (middle) in Malmö, 2005 Paul Douglas Hillier OBE (born 9 February 1949) is an English conductor, music director and baritone. He specializes in both early and contemporary classical music, especially that by composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. He was a co-founder of the Hilliard Ensemble and of Theatre of Voices, and directed the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir for many years.
Paul Hillier

mawster · Paul Hillier · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Born
- 1949 · Dorchester.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- singer · conductor · choir director · musician
- Education
- Guildhall School of Music and Drama · The Thomas Hardye School
- Languages
- English
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Paul Hillier. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2724461 · wikipedia · Paul Hillier
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
Statements marked “Documentary record” are set in the article beside the passage they confirm. Each is read from the authority records of the institutions named here; select “Prove” to see the record it was read from, where in that record, and when.
Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Ensembles
Ensembles
He served as Chief Conductor of Ars Nova (Copenhagen) from 2003 to 2023, and has been the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Chamber Choir Ireland (formerly known as the National Chamber Choir of Ireland) since 2008.
Hillier was born in Dorchester, England, in 1949, where he attended The Thomas Hardye School. In 1967 he became a music student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, studying voice. In 1974, he co-founded the Hilliard Ensemble along with fellow vicar-choral Paul Elliott, tenor, and countertenor David James. His concert debut was in 1974 in London's Purcell Room. Hillier remained the director of the ensemble until 1990, when he founded Theatre of Voices. In addition to early music, this group explores more contemporary repertoire. With the Chicago-based ensemble His Majestie's Clerkes Hillier recorded early American repertoire such as the works of William Billings on the 1992 album A Land of Pure Delight. Hillier later became Director of the Early Music Institute at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he conducted the Pro Arte Singers. He left the E.M.I. in 2003, having meanwhile become Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; he left the position in 2007. Since 2003, Hillier has lived in Copenhagen, where he is Chief Conductor of Theatre of Voices (1990-) and led Ars Nova (Copenhagen) 2003-2023. In 2008, he was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Chamber Choir Ireland (then known as the National Chamber Choir of Ireland.) In February 2024, it was announced that this would be Hillier's sixteenth and final year as Artistic Director of Chamber Choir Ireland. Hillier has recorded a number of solo albums, some with harpist Andrew Lawrence-King on the Harmonia Mundi, ECM, EMI, Finlandia and Hyperion labels.
Documentary record
Paul Hillier appears in the authority records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek as a musician, conductor and singer (born 9 February 1949). The birth of Paul Hillier is recorded on 9 February 1949.
Academic appointments
Academic appointments
From 1980, Hillier has held a variety of academic appointments, most recently as Director of the Early Music Institute at Indiana University Bloomington.
Publications
• The Catch Book (1987), Oxford University Press, a collection of catches (comic rounds) edited by Hillier. • A Josquin Anthology (2005), Oxford University Press, a collection of choral pieces by Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez, edited by Ross Duffin and Hillier. • Writing on Music, 1965–2000 (2002), Oxford University Press, a collection of writings by composer Steve Reich, edited by Hillier. • Arvo Pärt (1997), Oxford University Press, The first English-language study (including a short biography) of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. • English Romantic Partsongs (1986), Oxford University Press, a collection of songs edited by Hillier. • 300 Years of English Partsongs: Glees, Rounds, Catches, Partsongs 1600-1900 (1983), Faber & Faber, a collection of music edited by Hillier.
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
• Paul Hillier on Bach-Cantatas • Paul Hillier on Harmonia Mundi *
Documentary record
Paul Hillier was born in Dorchester, United Kingdom, according to the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Paul Hillier, revision 1362251501 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Joanna Davis. Renowned conductor from Dorchester held in USA over £58,000 child support bill. Bournemouth Daily Echo. 19 August 2010.
- 2.Bach Cantatas Website. Paul Hillier (Baritone, Conductor).
- 3.Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Epcc.ee.
- 4.Ars Nova (Copenhagen). Paul Hillier.
- 5.Spring-Summer 2024 Season marks the beginning of Paul Hillier's 16th and final year as Artistic Director of Chamber Choir Ireland. Chamber Choir Ireland. February 2024.
- 6.Early Music Institute
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
44,023 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Paul HenrionPerson
- Paul HertelPerson
- Paul HertzogPerson
- Paul HesterPerson
- Paul HindemithPerson
- Paul HippPerson
- Paul HöfferPerson
- Paul HoffertPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Paul Hillier?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.