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Trendell was educated as an organ scholar at Exeter College, Oxford, and, prior to his arrival at King's was Lecturer at St Hilda's, St Hugh's and Oriel Colleges. He is much in demand as a choral conductor and frequently directs choral workshops in the USA.

David Trendell has been College Organist and Lecturer in Music at King's since 1992. In that time he has established the chapel choir as one of the finest mixed-voice university choirs in the country. They have made several recordings in recent years of sixteenth-century music, thus tying in with Trendell's research interests.

• Organist and Choir Director
• Zemlinsky
• 16th-century polyphony

Trendell's research interests are mainly focussed on sixteenth-century music and in particular the work of William Byrd. He has written on aspects of Byrd's musical recusancy and is currently writing an article exploring Byrd's dissonance treatment and the major influences on the formation of his style. He is particularly interested in the influence of continental composers, such as Gombert and Clemens, on English music from c. 1540 and has given papers at the Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference on this subject, including one on the appearance of simultaneous false relations in continental music before their widespread use in England. Trendell lectures and performs each year at the William Byrd Festival in Portland, Oregon and also gave papers at two Byrd Conferences, one at Duke University and one at King's College London, which he organised. Trendell also researches Spanish music and many of his recordings with the Choir of King's College London reflect this interest. In particular, he has edited and recorded works by Alonso Lobo, Sebastian de Vivanco and Philippe Rogier, the latter on the Hyperion label. Trendell's research interests also include the work of Alexander Zemlinsky and he is completing an article on Zemlinsky and the Idea of a Song Cycle.

Recent Publications

Philippe Rogier Missa Ego sum qui sum and motets The Choir of King's College London/Trendell Hyperion CDA 67807 (2010)

Rodion Shchedrin The Sealed Angel The Choirs of King's College London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge/Trendell and Webber Delphian DCD 34067 (2009)

Six essays in A Byrd Celebration: Lectures at the William Byrd Festival Portland, Oregon 1998-2008 CMMA (2008)

'Aspects of William Byrd's musical recusancy' Musical Times vol 148 (2007) pp. 27-50 

Recent papers

'Rogier's and Monteverdi's parodies of Gombert motets' Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference at Royal Holloway, 2010

'Aspects of Byrd's dissonance treatment' Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference, Utrecht 2009 and King's College London January 2009

'Simultaneous false relations in continental sixteenth-century music' Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference, Cambridge 2006

Performance

David Trendell is active as a performer. Under his direction, the Choir of King's College London have made many recordings and broadcasts regularly for the BBC. In recent years they have given concerts in St Petersburg, USA and France, where they have given over 25 performances in the last three years. He is in demand as a conductor, most notably in Houston where he regularly directs workshops with Chorus Angelorum. 

Chapel Choir

The Chapel Choir's disc of Taverner's Missa Corona spinea was nominated for a Gramophone award in the Early Music category and their disc of music by Alonso Lobo was chosen by Gramphone reviewer, Tess Knighton, as one of her two favourite CDs of the year. More recently, they have continued their relationship with Sanctuary's Gaudeamus label by recording music by Sebastian de Vivanco and they have also recorded a disc of music for Advent with the renowned viol consort Phantasm on the Herald label.

In the department Trendell teaches Techniques of Composition in the second and third years and also teaches History courses, including one entitled Music and Worship in England c. 1470-1607 and another on sacred sixteenth-century continental music. He also is in charge of the 3rd year Advanced Performance Studies course.