Michael Howard

Who was Michael Howard?

Michael Stockwin Howard was an English choral conductor, organist and composer. He was an important part of the Early Music movement in the middle of the last century, in particular as a celebrated interpreter of 16th century polyphony In his later years he made notable recordings of the late French Romantic school of organ composers, particularly César Franck, on the Cavaille Coll organ at St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough.

He studied Organ and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also studied privately with Marcel Dupre and Ralph Downes.

In 1944 he founded The Renaissance Singers with whom he gave numerous concerts and made many recordings and broadcasts for the next twenty years. He was organist of Tewkesbury Abbey, Christ Church, Woburn Square in London, Ely Cathedral, St. Marylebone Parish Church in London and at St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough. In the 1960s he formed and conducted the sixteen-voice group Cantores in Ecclesia.