Simon Kim Phipps
The Swedish Chamber Choir was founded by and is lead by Simon Kim Phipps.

Simon Kim Phipps grew up in the English choral tradition – as a chorister at New College, Oxford, and then as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge. He pursued post-graduate studies as a singer at The Guildhall in London, and as a conductor in Munich and Manchester. Initially he worked chiefly in opera with long-term engagements in Gothenburg, London, and Krefeld. After moving to Sweden in 1994 choral music became equally important, and he won international competitions, including Helsingborg, Tours, and Marktoberdorf with Simon Phipps Vokalensemble. Since 2007 he has been the artistic director of The Swedish Chamber Choir (Svenska Kammarkören) touring and broadcasting all over Europe, and winning in 2011 both the Grand Prix Européen in Tolosa and the coveted Silver rose bowl as overall winner in the EBU’s competition Let the peoples sing.
Phipps is intensely interested in literature and theatre and his programmes typically explore the relationship of word to music and performer to audience – The Swedish Chamber Choir’s productions aim to stretch the boundaries of the traditional choral concert. Recent examples have been the collaboration with virtuoso trumpeter Rike Huy, improvising on Josquin’s polyphony; Bach’s Johannes Passion semi-staged, accompanied by a saxophone-led combo, and David Lang’s Little match girl passion – an a capella tour de force.
Phipps has conducted all over Europe and the Americas. Since 2000 he has been artistic director and conductor of Västra Götalands Ungdomssymfoniker, and since 2003 artistic director and conductor of Läckö opera.