Conductor Stephen Layton has, unusually, cultivated strong careers in both choral and orchestral music. Perhaps best known as the director of music at Trinity College, Cambridge, he has often championed contemporary works. Layton founded the mixed-voice choir Polyphony in 1986 while still a Cambridge student. He recorded his debut album with Polyphony in 1995, featuring James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross. By the late 2010s, his catalog of recordings numbered well over 50, and they were strikingly diverse. Layton has remained active, releasing albums of music by Ivo Antognini and one of anthems by Elgar and others in 2023, with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge. That year, he stepped down from the directorship of the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, to devote more time to guest conducting.