Crispin Lewis is a professional conductor and singer. He has conducted his own ensembles many times live on BBC Radio 3 and in numerous concerts at London venues including Wigmore Hall; the Royal Opera House, Linbury Studio; Christ Church Spitalfields; the South Bank Centre, Purcell Room; St John’s Smith Square; Kings Place Hall One; St James’s Piccadilly; and St Martin-in-the-fields.
Most recently, as a singer, Crispin has made a premiere commercial recording of the extant songs of Herbert Murrill (1909-52), which will be released later this year. In June 2024 he gave the first ever lecture recital at Bletchley Park’s brand new auditorium, talking about the rediscovered songs of Murrill, and his life, including his activities as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park.
Crispin is the conductor of The Musicall Compass http://www.themusicallcompass.com (a professional baroque ensemble of voices and instruments), and of two choral societies. He is also regularly engaged as a guest conductor by symphony orchestras, baroque orchestras and choirs.
With his ensemble The Musicall Compass, Crispin has produced and conducted many performances in collaboration with contemporary dance choreographers, actors, and with musicians of other genres and disciplines.
After studying violin to postgraduate level at the Royal College of Music, he went on to study orchestral conducting and singing.
Crispin Lewis studied at the Royal College of Music (postgraduate) and at Trinity Laban Conservatoire (undergraduate).
Crispin is the founder and artistic director of Choritalia https://choritalia.com a company organising chamber choir courses in Italy.
Orchestral repertoire includes:
J.S.Bach: Overtures (Suites ), Brandenburg Concerti, Various concerti; Barber: Adagio for Strings; Bartok: Dance Suite; Beethoven: Symphonies 1,2,3,4,5,7, Violin Concerto, Overtures - Egmont, Coriolan; Borodin: Polovtsian Dances; Brahms: Symphones 1,3,4, Violin Concerto, St Anthony Variations,Tragic Overture, Academic Festival Overture, Hungarian Dances 1,5,6; Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1; Debussy: Nocturnes, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; Dvorak: Symphonies 8,9, Serenade for Strings, Slavonic Dances Op.46; Elgar: Enigma Variations, Serenade for Strings, Chanson de Nuit, Chanson de Matin, Salut d'amour; Da Falla: Three Dances from The Three Cornered Hat, The Three Corned Hat Suite No.1; Franck: Symphonic Variations; Handel: Concerti Grossi, various concerti, Music for the Royal Fireworks, Water Music; Haydn: Symphonies 99, Seven last words (orch version), Cello concerto in C; Mendelssohn: Symphonies 3 "Scottish", 4 "Italian", Overture and Nocturne from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Violin Concerto, Hebrides Overture Mahler Kindertotenlieder Mozart Symphonies - 35 "Haffner",36 "Linz" ,38 "Prague", 39, 40, 41 "Jupiter", excerpts of Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Overtures - Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Der Zauberflöte, La Clemenza di Tito; Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Suite no. 2, Peter and the Wolf; Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No.2, Mother Goose Suite; Rossini: Ovetures - Italian Girl in Algiers, Semiramide, The Thieving Magpie Saint-Saens Symphony No.3 'Organ'; Schubert: Symphony No. 3, 6, 8 Rosamunde Overture, Ballet Music and Entr'acte Schumann Symphonies 2, 4, Piano Concerto; Sibelius: Karelia Suite, Finlandia; Richard Strauss: Don Juan; Stravinsky: Pulcinella, Petroushka (1947 version); Tchaikovsky: Symphony 4, 5, 6, 1812 Overture, Capriccio Italien, Swan Lake Suite; Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, Siegfried Idyll; Walton: Crown Imperial Weber Overture to Der Freischütz.
Choral repertoire includes:
Bach: Magnificat, B minor Mass, Lutheran masses, St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, numerous cantatas, Christmas Oratorio. Beethoven: Mass in C. Bernstein, Chichester Psalms. Brahms: Ein Deutches Requiem, Liebeslieder Waltzes, Zigeunerlieder. Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb, Saint Nicolas, Bruckner: E minor Mass, F Minor Mass, Motets. Dvorak: Te Deum, Mass in D. Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius. Faure: Requiem. Handel: Judas Maccabeus, Alexander's Feast, Messiah, Coronation Anthems, Chandos Anthems. Haydn: The Creation, Nelson Mass, Te Deum, Missa Sanctis Brevis, Theresienmesse, Paukenmesse, Seven Last Words. Hummel: Mass in Bb. Mendelssohn: Elijah. Mozart: Requiem, Solemn Vespers, Mass in C minor, Kyrie in D minor, short Masses. Parry: I was Glad, Blest pair of Sirens. Schubert: Mass in G, Stabat Mater. Vaughan Williams, Dona Nobis Pacem, Five Mystical Songs. Victoria, Various Masses, Reuiem Mass 1605. Vivaldi: Gloria, Magnificat.
