John McCarthy (conductor)

Born in London to Irish parents, McCarthy was education at the Oratory school in Kensington and then on a scholarship at St. Edmund's school in Ware, Hertfordshire, after which he attended the Royal College of Music. He also worked at a bank, and in 1940 was married to Margaret Quigley.[3][2]

In 1951, following national service, McCarthy together with Denis Stevens founded a choral group known as the Ambrosian Singers to provide choral polyphony for the BBC series, The History of Music, which Stevens produced. By the 1960s the group had grown to include 700 singers from which smaller groups could be selected.[4] He also went on to found The John McCarthy Singers.

From 1961-66 McCarthy was the chorus master of the London Symphony Orchestra. The LSO's chorus of this era has been described as "simply the Ambrosian Singers under another name".[2] In the mid-1960s McCarthy moved into opera music, and worked with artists such as Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. In 1981 he was made the chorus master of the Royal Opera House.[3] He was also director of music at the Carmelite priory in London.[2]

He received three Grammy nominations, one in 1967, one in 1968, and one in 1975, all in the "Best Classical Choral Performance" category.[1]