John McCarthy

OBE
McCarthy circa 1960s
Born
Eugene Patrick John McCarthy

(1916-11-20)20 November 1916
London, United Kingdom
Died8 April 2009(2009-04-08) (aged 92)
London, United Kingdom.
Other namesJohn Mac
Occupations
  • Conductor
  • Composer
Years active1927–2009
Organizations
SpouseMargaret Quigley
Children3

Eugene Patrick John McCarthy OBE (20 November 1916 - 8 April 2009), also known professionally for most of his career as John Mac or simply Mac, was a three-times Grammy Award-nominated[1] director and conductor of choral music.[2]

Early life

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. His first recording was in 1927 whilst still a boy, where he performed as a soprano. He later worked at a bank, and in 1940 was married to Margaret Quigley with whom he had twin girls and a son.[3][2] After serving during the Second World War, he studied privately under Mátyás Seiber, a prominent composer and conductor, and also sang professionally as a tenor around the same time.[4]

McCarthy was involved in sports in his youth, particularly in water polo. He was a reserve member of the British water polo team for the 1948 Olympic games.[2]

Musical career

In 1951 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.[5] 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. Performances conducted by McCarthy were included in the films Chariots of Fire and Amadeus.[2]

Awards

He conducted the Ambrossian choir in performances that received three Grammy nominations, one in 1968 for a performance of Handel's Messiah,[6] one in 1969 for a performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 2 in C Major,[7] and one in 1976 for conducting a rendition of Cherubini's Requiem in D Minor,[8] all in the "Best Classical Choral Performance" category.[1] He received his OBE in 1989 for services to music.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Artist: John McCarthy". Grammy.com. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Millington, Barry (15 July 2009). "John McCarthy". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  3. 1 2 Shenton, Kenneth (22 June 2009). "John McCarthy: Charismatic choral conductor and arranger". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Jacobs, Arthur (1980). Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol. 11. Macmillan. pp. 411–412. ISBN 0333231112. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  5. ↑ John, McCarthy (1967). The Amor Artis Bulletin. 6 (9–10): 12–19. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "Grammy Awards 1968". Awards and Shows. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Grammy Awards 1969". Awards and Shows. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Grammy Awards 1976". Awards and Shows. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
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