Conductor. Best known for his eponymous choir, he led musical performances in genre ranging from symphonic and operatic to jazz and rock. Educated at Felsted, Essex, he studied at King's College, Cambridge, and in the 1950s performed his National Service and worked as a church choir director in Kensington. Alldis received a graduate degree from Cambridge in 1957 and in 1962 formed his 16-voice John Alldis Choir, making the ensemble's maiden appearance with the world premiere of Alexander Goehr's "A Little Cantata of Proverbs". His group was to give and record numerous performances on its own and with symphonic orchestras, the principal conductors usually receiving credit for Alldis' work with the latter, and was to send some of its alumni, including Philip Langridge and John Shirley-Quirk, on to distinguished operatic careers. Able to deal with music from baroque to modern, the Choir appeared on Pink Floyd's 1970 "Atom Heart Mother" and on Duke Ellington's last record, the 1973 "Sacred Concert". Keeping busy with groups besides his own, Alldis became chorus master of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1966, was professor and choir director at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1966 until 1979, served as principal conductor of Radio Denmark between 1971 and 1977, was music director of the Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra from 1971 to 2004, and held many guest appointments. Honored often, he received several Grammy nominations, and won the award for a 1971 recording of Verdi's "Aida" with Erich Leinsdorf and a 1974 reading of Puccini's "La Boheme" under Sir Georg Solti. An Honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey, he was named Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France in 1994. Forced to retire following a stroke in 2004, he died of pneumonia leaving a massive recorded legacy.