Simon Halsey has been appointed chorus director of the London Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus from August 2012. One of the world’s most sought after choral directors, Halsey is chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Choir and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus.

‘I am thrilled about Simon’s appointment,’ said LSO principal conductor Valery Gergiev. ‘We’ve worked together many times elsewhere. I look forward to a very special partnership with him.’

Halsey added: ‘The London Symphony Chorus is one of the world’s finest choirs and it’s a group that I hold dear because they were encouraging to me as a student assistant to Richard Hickox in the early 1980s. To return as their director and to take a new post created to bring choral work into the heart of the LSO and its Discovery programme is a dream come true.’

Halsey has also recently been appointed artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic’s Youth Choral Programme, director of the BBC Proms Youth Choir, and professor and director of Choral Activities at the University of Birmingham.