David Skinner divides his time equally as a scholar and choral director. He was co-founder of The Cardinall’s Musick in 1989, and has also worked with many other leading early music groups in the UK including The Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, The Hilliard Ensemble and The King’s Singers. David founded Alamire in 2005 as an extension to his research and performance activities. The ensemble has already received critical acclaim for its performances and recordings and has released several albums on the Obsidian label, of which David is Artistic Director. They received a Gramophone Award in 2015 for their recording of ‘The Spy’s Choirbook’.

An engaging presenter, David has worked extensively for BBC radio, appearing in and writing a variety of shows on Radio 3 and 4. He acted as music advisor for the Music and Monarchy series on BBC 2 with historian David Starkey; he and Alamire appear in the first two episodes of the series. He has published widely on music and musicians of early Tudor England and has an excellent reputation as an editor of performance scores. David’s edition of the complete Tallis Psalter was published by Novello in 2012 and was well reviewed, receiving 5 stars in Early Music Today. The follow-up to this collaboration, The Gibbons Hymnal, was released in March 2014. David is also working with The King’s Singers on a series of recordings, including ‘Biblical Passions: Palestrina’s Song of Songs’.

David is Fellow, Praelector, and Osborn Director of Music at Sidney Sussex College in the University of Cambridge where he teaches historical and practical topics from the medieval and Renaissance periods. He directs the Choir of Sidney Sussex College, with whom he has toured and made highly acclaimed recordings. David is frequently invited to lecture, lead workshops and coach choirs throughout Europe and the USA, and is noted for his refreshing and entertaining approach. He is currently working on a major project on Thomas Tallis, which culminates in a dedicated volume on the composer in the April 2016 issue of Early Music (OUP), as well as a new collected edition of Tallis’s early Latin works for Early English Church Music (Stainer & Bell).