John Rutter, The Choral Composer

John Rutter was brought into this world in London, a city in which he lived in the upper level of a bar for most of his childhood. He went to school at Highgate a place where he would meet many of his lifelong friends and as a choir director's understudy at college, he helped record the original version of War Requiem with the guidance of yet another renowned individual. He proceeded to become help support in the reading of sheet music at Clare College. At this college, he was also a distinguished singer at the school choir. Though he was still finishing his schooling he had his first songs written and sent into the world, like the Shepherd's Pipe Carol which he wrote before he turned 18. He went on to become the composer of music at yet another college for almost half a decade where he helped them reach worldwide recognition.

In 1981, John started his own group he called the Cambridge Singers. He personally leads and conducts this group and he has produced many of his major hit, some of which are redone, but most are his personal works. Some of these songs were produced under his personal production project called Collegium Records. John now lives in a place called Cambridgeshire where he consistently directs many choral groups and orchestras that come from many different places in the world 1980, John became a prestigious part of the renowned Westminster Choir College, Princeton. In 1988 John was then allowed to become a member of the Guild of Church Musicians. In 2008, he was made an honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple at the same time becoming a major if a not profound role in the Temple Festival by 2008. From 1985 to 1992, John was diagnosed with and suffered severely from myalgic encephalomyelitis also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, which which limited how much work he was able to perform, until after 1985 he halted the writing of his musical pieces because he could no longer perform to the high expectation that he was held to and he could also no longer ensure that his works would be completed of time.

Rutter's works are, for the most part, mainly choir related, and include many Christmas carols, anthems and extended items such as the Gloria, The Requiem, and The Magnificat. The international prime showing of Rutter's Requiem, written in 1985, and of his commanding version of Fauré's Requiem, was held at the Fox Valley Festival Chorus, in Illinois. In 2002, his writing of Psalm 150, written and performed for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, was shown at the events thanksgiving service in St Paul's Cathedral, London. In another great achievement, he was requested to write a new piece for a far more important event so he wrote, This is the day, to be performed at the famous wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in early 2011, this was performed at Westminster Abbey during the service. John's work has been published by the Oxford University Press. It has been recorded by a great number choirs, but he still insists on conducting his own recordings solely on his College albums.

John also works nowadays as a musical arranger and perfectionist. As a younger man, he would work with people the likes of Sir David Willcocks on five volumes of the overly successful and renowned Carols for Choirs series. For his accomplishments, John was accepted into the National Patron of Delta Omicron, a worldwide professional musical group in 1985. Rutter also serves as the Vice President of the Joyful Company of Singers and is the acting President of The Bach Choir.