Stephen Cleobury

Sir Stephen John Cleobury ( KLEE-bər-ee; 31 December 1948 – 22 November 2019) was an English organist and music director. He worked with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, where he served as music director from 1982 to 2019, and with the BBC Singers. King's College has worldwide fame for its Christmas music, having performed a live broadcast on the BBC on Christmas Eve since 1928. During his long tenure as Director of Music, Cleobury made the singers even better known by tours and recordings. From 1984 he introduced the commission of a new Christmas carol annually. Among many honours, he was honorary fellow of the Royal School of Church Music, and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019 before he died of cancer that November at the age of 70.