Andrew Carwood is a British tenor and conductor known for his expertise in English music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. He is also the director and co-founder of the Cardinall's Musick vocal ensemble, which specializes in pre-Reformation church music. He was born in 1965 and attended the John Lyon School from ages 11 to 18. After graduating, he won the appointment of choral scholar in the Choir of St. John's College, directed by George Guest. This arrangement provided him with a full scholarship to Cambridge University, and he sang in the daily services for the college chapel as a member of the choir. His first professional experience was as a lay clerk at the Christ Church and Westminster Cathedral, and in 1989 with David Skinner, he formed the Cardinall's Musick. In the early 1990s he sang with the Cambridge Singers, the English Consort, and the Choir of the Age of Enlightenment, and from 1995 to 1999 he served as the music director at the Brompton Oratory in London. This solidified his reputation as a performer of early music and Gramophone Magazine described his voice as "magnificent." With the Cardinall's Musick, Carwood recorded several albums with a focus on English composers such as Thomas Tallis, John Merbecke, and John Sheppard. They also recorded the complete works of Nicholas Ludford, Robert Fayrfax, and William Byrd. Since the early 2000s, they have expanded their repertoire to include the works of Palestrina, Lassus, and others, and they commissioned and premiered Michael Finnissy's Palm-Sunday. In 2007 Carwood was appointed director of music at St. Paul's Cathedral and was the first non-organist since the 1100s to hold the position. He also became the principal guest conductor for the BBC Singers. Three years later, Carwood and the Cardinall's Musick released the album Infelix Ego which earned the prestigious Gramophone Recording of the Year award of 2010. Other recognitions include Gramophone Awards for Early Music in 1995, 2006 and 2007, the Diapason d'Or, and the Schallplattenkritik Preis. In 2015, with the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir, Carwood recorded Carols with St. Paul's Cathedral, which sold over 30,000 copies in a single month. In addition to his work as a conductor, he is also in demand as an educator, giving lectures and master classes in both the U.S. and the U.K. In the 2022 New Year Honours, Carwood was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to choral music. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi