Born in 1957, Simon Mold was brought up in Derbyshire’s Peak District, where under his father’s tuition he came to be in considerable demand as a treble soloist, for instance singing Sem in Britten’s Noyes Fludde. He went on to sing as a chorister in Peterborough Cathedral Choir, directed by the legendary Dr Stanley Vann, and had a choral composition performed in the cathedral while he was still a boy chorister. After reading English Language and Medieval Literature at Durham University, where he was also a Durham Cathedral choral scholar, he combined a teaching career with membership of several cathedral choirs as alto and then bass; upon retirement from teaching he joined the choir of Leicester Cathedral where he took a full part in the Richard III re-interment events in March 2015.

He has been writing music, mainly vocal and choral, for over 40 years, during which time he has received many commissions and seen his music performed in major venues such as St Paul’s Cathedral, London and St David’s Hall, Cardiff, on radio and television, and recorded on CD. His Candlelight Carol, in particular, is widely sung around the world. He has also contributed many articles over the years to magazines on subjects relating to language, literature and music; and he remains especially partial to the music of the great Mr Handel!