Simon Ponsford (countertenor) is a soloist and recitalist, and sings with several international ensembles, most frequently with the Monteverdi Choir and The Sixteen. He has been a soloist with choral societies and chamber choirs across the UK and abroad in venues including St John’s Smith Square, King’s Place, Westminster Abbey and Hong Kong City Hall. Simon is a Lay Vicar in the choir of Westminster Abbey a role that combines daily service singing with performing at significant national occasions, on radio and television broadcasts, and in concerts both as a member of the choir and as a soloist.
Coming from a musical family in Gloucestershire, Simon started singing at a young age in Gloucester Cathedral Choir. He went on to study at King’s College, Cambridge, reading for a degree in English Literature whilst being a Choral Scholar in King’s world famous chapel choir. From Cambridge Simon moved to Windsor Castle and spent five years singing in the choir of St George’s Chapel, before moving to the Abbey in 2013.
Whilst at Windsor, Simon undertook a postgraduate MA at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Michael Chance and took part in masterclasses given by Ann Murray and Helmut Deutsch. On graduating with Distinction, he was awarded the S & M Eyres Wilson Scholarship and a Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music for outstanding performance.
Performance highlights have included taking part in the ground-breaking tour of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion performed from memory with the Monteverdi Choir, giving a performance of Handel's Athalia in the Sheldonian Theatre, where it was first performed, with the Oxford Bach Choir, and making his international solo debut singing Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Simon has also had a CD of Elizabethan and Jacobean songs, recorded with his father David playing the organ and virginals, released to critical acclaim on Nimbus Records.
Simon now lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife Ali and two daughters, Molly and Hazel.
September 2021
Coming from a musical family in Gloucestershire, Simon started singing at a young age in Gloucester Cathedral Choir. He went on to study at King’s College, Cambridge, reading for a degree in English Literature whilst being a Choral Scholar in King’s world famous chapel choir. From Cambridge Simon moved to Windsor Castle and spent five years singing in the choir of St George’s Chapel, before moving to the Abbey in 2013.
Whilst at Windsor, Simon undertook a postgraduate MA at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Michael Chance and took part in masterclasses given by Ann Murray and Helmut Deutsch. On graduating with Distinction, he was awarded the S & M Eyres Wilson Scholarship and a Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music for outstanding performance.
Performance highlights have included taking part in the ground-breaking tour of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion performed from memory with the Monteverdi Choir, giving a performance of Handel's Athalia in the Sheldonian Theatre, where it was first performed, with the Oxford Bach Choir, and making his international solo debut singing Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Simon has also had a CD of Elizabethan and Jacobean songs, recorded with his father David playing the organ and virginals, released to critical acclaim on Nimbus Records.
Simon now lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife Ali and two daughters, Molly and Hazel.
September 2021
