Chicago-based oratorio tenor Steven Caldicott Wilson has been a member of the classical a cappella vocal quartet New York Polyphony since 2011 and the Handel + Haydn Society chorus since 2015, and is a tenured member of the Grant Park Music Festival chorus.
In 2023, he returned to Carnegie Hall NYC to sing Messiah solos with Musica Sacra, and he was the soloist for Messiah with the Johnstown, PA Symphony Orchestra and The Cathedral of All Saints, Albany. He was a soloist with Handel + Haydn’s production of Isreal in Egypt, Apollo’s Fire in fall 2022 (Monteverdi Vespers and Handel Messiah), and is an inaugural member of The Leonids with Chor Leoni Vancouver. Past appearances include Chatham Baroque, TENET Vocal Artists, Clarion Orchestra NYC, and multiple Evangelist roles and Bach cantata recitals with Trinity Baroque Orchestra in Montreal and NYC. From 2007 – 2012, he was a gentleman of the choir at St. Thomas 5th Avenue NYC under the direction of the late John Scott.
Critically acclaimed for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts,” (NPR) and as “singers of superb musicianship and vocal allure” (The New Yorker), New York Polyphony is one of the foremost vocal chamber ensembles active today. Their innovative programming spans Gregorian chant to contemporary commissions, and their focus on familiar and rare works of the 12-17th centuries has helped bring early music to modern audiences.
Founded in 2006, New York Polyphony’s growing discography includes two GRAMMY-nominated albums, and many of their releases have topped the “best of” lists of The New Yorker, Gramophone, and The New York Times. BBC Music Magazine hailed And the sun darkened (2021, BIS) “imaginatively programmed” and “immaculately sung,” and Klassik Heute applauded New York Polyphony’s “flawlessly pure sound that amazes the listener.” Lamentationes (2019, BIS) was a finalist in the 2020 Gramophone Awards and praised by Classics Today as “perfect ensemble singing, ideally recorded.”
The quartet tours extensively, performing in some of the world’s finest concert halls and participating in major festivals at home and abroad. Engagements have included Wigmore and Cadogan Halls (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Stavanger Kammermusikkfestival (Norway) in 2018 and 2023, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston) in 2017 and 2022, Heidelberger Frühling (Germany), and Early Music Vancouver. As of 2023, the quartet has performed in all but eight US states.
An engaging and versatile musician, Steven brings sensitive expression and a disciplined attention to detail to solo and ensemble settings. His career has focused on historical performance practice plus a dedication to new music, and he is a skilled pianist, teacher, and coach. A native of Virginia, he has been based in Chicago since September 2022.
Steven is an enlisted veteran of the United States Air Force Band Singing Sergeants, and a graduate of Ithaca College (BM) and the Yale University Voxtet program in early music, oratorio, and chamber ensemble (MM).