George Guest, 78; ‘Changed the Face of British Choral Music’

George Guest, 78, who led the choir at St. John’s College, Cambridge, for four decades and made it one of the most noted in England, died Nov. 20 in Cambridge. The cause of death was not reported.

Under Guest’s direction, the choir made about 60 recordings and toured as far afield as Brazil, Japan, Australia and the United States.

Stephen Cleobury, a former student who leads the choir at King’s College, Cambridge, said Guest “changed the face of British choral music.”

The son of an amateur organist, Guest was born in Wales. After World War II service in the Royal Air Force, he became organ scholar at St. John’s.

From 1951 to 1991, he was the college’s organist and choirmaster, molding the choir to sing in a distinctive continental style.