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Neil Sands, a professional music typesetter, founded the Chichester Music Press in 2003. He studied Composition at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and subsequently at the University of Wales in Bangor.
Neil plays the organ and directs the choir at St Richard's Church in Chichester. He has sung with Chichester's Chantry Quire, and sang for a year with Chichester Cathedral choir as a countertenor. More recently, he has sung as a dep with Portsmouth Cathedral choir.
He has also been Musical Director of Bognor Regis Choir, and of Chichester Amateur Operatic Society, mounting Annie Get Your Gun in Chichester's Minerva Theatre. Previously, he was the conductor of the Portsmouth University Choral Union, the University of Wales' Aberystwyth Elizabethan Madrigal Singers, and Aberystwyth's Showtime Singers.
Neil has taught music composition at Chichester's Prebendal School, as well as teaching music theory, composition and piano to private pupils. He's done some programming for Sibelius, and several of his plugins ship with the program. He served as Technical Editor for the Sibelius tutor book Sibelius 7 Music Notation Essentials. He has also worked as an English and Welsh teacher, and as a newsreader for Radio Manhattan in Łódź in Poland.
William Mason was born in Cheltenham in 1991 and received his earliest musical training as Head Chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, directed by Andrew Nethsingha. He held organ scholarships at Cheltenham College and Sherborne School and Abbey before being awarded an organ scholarship to Royal Holloway, University of London. As an undergraduate, William played the organ live on BBC Radio 3, recorded for Hyperion Records, and toured the USA, France and the Baltic States. During his postgraduate studies in choral conducting at Cambridge University, William received guidance from Christopher Robinson, and regularly directed the Choir of Downing College.
Recital engagements have included Southwark Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, St John's College, Cambridge, Temple Church and St George's, Hanover Square. William has taught at Repton School and Bradfield College and has also held organist positions at several London churches. William works as an organist on the Rodolfus Foundation Choral Courses and frequently deputises playing for services at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street. In September 2024, William will be taking part in the Cologne International Organ Improvisation Competition.
He is currently Assistant Director of Music at King's College School, Cambridge, where he works closely with the Schola Cantorum as the accompanist.
Richard was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral and began composing at a young age. Encouraged by the Cheltenham-based composer Tony Hewitt-Jones whilst he was still at school, Richard later went on to study music in London. His love of choral music led to him composing I Saw a New Heaven in 1988 for his college choir, a piece that was then part of the 2018 London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. His first published work, Three Pyrotechnics for Solo Clarinet (1993, Cascade Music Publishing) is now included as part of the Trinity College Advanced Clarinet repertoire, and in 2001 he received his South Bank debut with 8 'til Late (8 hands on 2 pianos) performed by Piano 40. Tronow, his most recent multi-hand piano work, received a first performance at the South Bank Centre in 2018. Many of his instrumental and piano works are now available from Forton Music.
Since 2018 Richard's choral music has been regularly featured at the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. His Missa Brevis, first performed at the festival, is now published by Banks Music Publishing.
Richard also works with synthesisers, samplers, field recordings, historical recordings and visual media and has recently produced work for a new music media production company. His electronic work EXPRSN was broadcast on BBC Radio 3's In Tune in 2022.
After spending over three decades working in schools in London, West Sussex, The Isles of Scilly and Dorset, Richard is now a full-time, freelance composer.
William Armiger has been actively involved in cathedral music for all his adult life. Having benefitted from vocal training at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he combined his career in teaching with that of lay-clerkship at Southwark Cathedral, and undertaking a parallel interest in concert and recital work, specialising particularly in German lieder and the English art song, as well as the standard concert repertoire.
Upon appointment to the Senior Lay-Clerkship at Gloucester Cathedral he further developed his career in teaching, culminating in the Headmastership of one of Gloucester's ancient grammar schools. He became closely involved in the organisation of the famous Three Choirs Festival and was Secretary of the Gloucester Festival and Trustee and Board member of its parent association.
During all this time, his earlier interest in harmony and counterpoint was further developed, and he has composed extensively over the years following his retirement from Gloucester Cathedral Choir. With the experience of performing in the unmatched acoustic of that lovely Gloucester building, his choral compositions - whether sacred or secular – although created with that unique space in mind, have also been widely performed in the USA and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom. He is also the Founder Secretary of The Sanders Society, a charity promoting the ideals and aspirations of Dr John Sanders, the late Organist and Master of the Choristers at Gloucester, and focusing upon its very successful international John Sanders Memorial Competition for Young Composers.
William's wide interests continue through choir membership of The Saint Cecilia Singers of Gloucester and The Standish Consort made up of Oxbridge alumni, as well as Trusteeship of The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire.
Charlotte Baskerville (born in 1994) was educated at The Godolphin School, Salisbury, where she held a music scholarship. She read music at Christ's College, Cambridge, taking a BA in 2015, and wrote a master's thesis on the cognition of music under the supervision of Prof. Ian Cross. Charlotte was a soprano choral scholar at Christ's under the direction of Prof. David Rowland, and developed a flare for choral composition under Christopher Brown (Clare College). She won the prestigious Christ's College Charles Blackham Memorial Recital Competition in 2016 (clarinet) and was co-leader of the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain.
Charlotte currently teaches academic music and is Head of Choral music at Warwick School. She sings with a number of choirs in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Tewkesbury and the surrounding areas and plays the clarinet with several ensembles in Cheltenham.
Francis was born in 1999 and grew up in Kent. He subsequently read music at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he studied composition under Christopher Brown, graduating with a prize-winning First in 2020. His musical output is mostly choral, and his compositional style is rooted in counterpoint, drawing on a range of influences from the Notre Dame School to the work of Judith Weir. Several of his pieces have been premiered in Portsmouth Cathedral. Alongside his composing, Francis is a singer based in Oxford, where he is a bass lay clerk in the choir of Magdalen College.
Previously, he has sung with several Oxbridge chapel choirs, held choral scholarships at Fisher House, Cambridge and Portsmouth Cathedral, and sung at the Edington Festival, as well as on numerous recordings and BBC broadcasts. Francis currently studies with Giles Underwood, and sings with various ensembles including The Delius Singers, the Instruments of Time and Truth, Luceat, and the choir of New College, Oxford.
Born in Bergamo (Italy) in 1990, Davide Mutti is a composer, organist and choral conductor, who studied with Gianluca Libertucci and Paolo Ugoletti at the Conservatories of Castelfranco Veneto, Venice and Brescia, graduating with highest distinction.
A busy church musician since 2005, he combines his performing and conducting work with musicological and organological activity. His large corpus of works includes all genres (for solo instrument, chamber, opera and symphonic music) and forms, though primarily addressed to sacred and liturgical music. Many of his compositions have won awards in national and international competitions.
His music is published in Italy (by Aldebaran Editions, Armelin, Feeria, Fondazione Coro SAT), Germany (by Edition Ferrimontana and Bardon Music), UK (by Chichester Music Press) and USA (by Paraclete Press).
Jon Simsic is Organist and Choirmaster at St Joseph's Church in Canton, Ohio. Jon is also Music Director of Illuminare, a choral ensemble composed of collegiate and local music professionals from the greater Youngstown area of Ohio, dedicated to singing sacred choral literature. Jon also serves as Music Director and Accompanist of the Young Artist's Program for Opera Western Reserve in Youngstown. Past positions for Jon include Assistant Conductor and Chorusmaster of the Youngstown Symphony; Conductor for Valley Lyric Opera, Greenville, PA; Music Director of the Ohio Boychoir, Cleveland, OH; Artistic Director of Youth Theater and Music for the Salem Community Theater, Salem, OH, and Conductor of Music Theater for Youngstown State University. As a composer, Jon has several choral works published by Paraclete Press. In 2009, Jon's anthem Harvest Hymn won the Royal School of Church Music's anthem competition and was subsequently premiered at Salisbury Cathedral.
Douglas Mason began his musical education as a chorister in Gloucester Cathedral Choir under John Sanders, read Music at Durham University and went on to train as a teacher at Leeds University whilst being a bass lay clerk at Leeds Minster. He now works at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester in both the Composition and Academic Music Departments. Joint winner of the 2016 Three Choirs Festival Composition Competition, Douglas has had his choral music performed by numerous choirs including The Gesualdo Six, Exeter Cathedral Choir, Gloucester Cathedral Choir, Manchester Cathedral Choir, Antiphon, the Southwell Festival Voices and the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral Montreal. His music has been broadcast live on radio on a number of occasions and in 2016 his carol Videntes Stellam featured in the BBC1 series Christmas City.
With the publication of Douglas' Three Pieces for organ in 2015, there has been increasing interest in his organ music. His Prelude No 3 was recorded by Carson Cooman in the same year and has since been performed in recitals and services around the UK at venues including York Minster, Ely Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, Brecon Cathedral, St John's College Cambridge, Buckfast Abbey and Holy Sepulchre London. 2019 saw the DVD recording of Douglas' Fanfare for organ by Daniel Moult for the Fugue State Films documentary series The English Organ. Fanfare was also included on the album The English Organ Volume Six which was released in 2020. In 2021 his Scherzo for organ was performed at St Pancras Church in the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music.
Music by Douglas has been included in the repertoire lists for ABRSM practical exams, his Freefall for cello and piano appearing in the 2020 to 2023 Grade 7 syllabus and his Latin Dance for oboe and piano in the Grade 5 syllabus for 2022 onwards. Douglas is also the composer of one of the chimes played by Gloucester Cathedral's bells. In addition to Chichester Music Press, his music is published by Animus Music Publishing, Banks Music Publications, Encore Publications and Recital Music.
Born in the UK in 1970, of Scottish descent; Ian Bevell is an alumnus of the Royal Academy of Music, London, UK. There he studied the organ with Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, and Church Music studies and choral conducting with Patrick Russell.
Over a church music career spanning nearly 30 years, Ian's approach to choral composition has been to compose for choirs of all sizes and abilities. This includes music for children's and parish church choirs, all the way through to cathedral-style choirs.
Ian enjoys creating music that is written in an abundance of styles and abilities; not only in English and Latin, but occasionally in other languages as well.
Mark Swinton was educated at the King's School, Chester, beginning organ studies with Roger Fisher whilst there, and studied for Music degrees at the University of York, where his tutors included John Scott Whiteley and Dr Francis Jackson. He has subsequently studied and participated in masterclasses with Johannes Geffert, David Briggs and Dame Gillian Weir. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists since 2006, he has given numerous recitals at venues throughout the UK. He has also performed in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain both as a soloist and an accompanist.
Since 2011, Mark has been the Assistant Director of Music at the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick. He accompanies the choirs of St Mary's in four choral services every week and in their busy regime of concerts, tours, recordings and broadcasts. He also directs St Mary's Scholars, the church's mixed adult chamber choir, which sings for services in the absence of the regular choirs. Mark's recital engagements have taken him all over the UK and abroad, and his discography includes 100+: Organ Music by Francis Jackson (Willowhayne Records) which was an Editor's Choice in Organists' Review in November 2020.
Mark's compositions and arrangements encompass choral and instrumental music, some of which have been published by Encore Publications and Chichester Music Press.
For more information, please visit www.markswinton.co.uk.
Photo credit: Katrina Barford
Robert Fielding is Director of Music at Sarum St Martin's Church, Salisbury. He was Organist and Master of the Choristers, Romsey Abbey from 2004-15. He holds MMus and MPhil degrees and is a holder of the Fellowship and Choirmaster diplomas from the Royal College of Organists. He studied organ with Ronald Frost, Keith Bond, Noel Rawsthorne and Dr John Bishop. He works as an organist, choral trainer and composer, with a number of works for choir and organ in print and several CD recordings available online. Robert was a Church Music Adviser for the Diocese of Salisbury and directed the Salisbury Diocesan Certificate in Church Music programme, and established the educational programme 'pipe-up' for young organists. He is an Honorary Member of the Birmingham Conservatoire.
Olivia Sparkhall is a composer, conductor, teacher and author of a series of books for young people about the voice. She studied composition at school with Derek Bourgeois and at Durham University with Paul Archbold, and has since received critical acclaim for her vocal music. She was short-listed in the Cappella Nova competition in 2018 for Dona Nobis Pacem and has been commissioned to write choral works on several occasions. Her music has been sung in the UK and abroad, including on BBC One's Songs of Praise programmes. In addition to Chichester Music Press, Olivia is published by Encore Publications, and within the Kassian Choral Series of Banks Music Publications both as composer and as arranger and editor of choral music by women composers from the past. She is part of the series research and editorial team for the Multitude of Voyces CIC Sacred Music by Women Composers set of anthologies, as well as contributing original compositions and arrangements to each of the three volumes.
https://oliviasparkhall.wixsite.com/sparkhallo
Photo credit: Ash Mills
Kevin came late to the music profession having started out intending to have a career as a police officer. As a mature student he read a BMus at Goldsmiths College London and followed that with a PGCE to become a secondary school music teacher. He held positions as Organist & Choirmaster at RAF High Wycombe and other local churches in Buckinghamshire before relocating to Cornwall in 2002. He has always balanced his love for sacred music with community work, contrasting time as Organist at St Michael's Mount (and now Organist & Choirmaster at St Pol de Leon) with directing community choirs, youth music theatre groups and even a big band.
Martyn is currently Acting Director of Music at H.M. Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, Musician-in-Residence at Highgate School and Teacher of Organ and Piano Accompanist at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. His recital appearances include Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Canterbury, St Paul's and both Liverpool Cathedrals. He has also played in Paris, The Netherlands, Budapest, Brussels, Germany and Northern Ireland. In February 2020, he had his debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, playing the organ for Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
More recently, Martyn has performed for the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music in London and, during Summer 2023, gave the opening recital at Himmerod Abbey's Orgelsommer in Germany. In 2023, he was also a répétiteur and Vocal Coach for Sherborne's Summer School of Music (his third appearance at the summer school) and had his annual appearance in the Hooglandse Kerk, Leiden. In 2018, he was also fortunate enough to play Keyboard 2 for the UK tour of Miss Saigon as they played shows at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford and the Theatre Royals in Plymouth and Norwich.
In 2015, Martyn graduated with a first class Bachelor of Music degree from London's Royal College of Music, and completed his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) and Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (LRSM) diplomas in Organ Performance in 2023 and 2011 respectively. Martyn has appeared live on BBC Radios 3 and 4 and has recorded for Novello, Boosey & Hawkes and for choral CDs with Priory and Signum records. He also plays annually for Classic FM's broadcast of Carols from Buckingham Palace, which airs immediately after H.M. The King's speech on Christmas Day, directing the choir for it for the first time at Christmas 2023.
As a composer, Martyn has composed several choral works as well as some organ pieces too, all of which have received premieres. His pieces have been premiered at St James's Palace, Exeter University, the Royal College of Music, Highgate School and in The Netherlands. His music has also been performed in The King's Chapel of the Savoy and the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music.
You can hear Martyn play on his YouTube page.
Rosemary Field is an organist, choir-trainer, teacher and liturgical composer. She trained at the RCM in the late 70s, and was a prize-winning student in both organ and harmony. Later she was awarded the Tournemire Medal for Organ Improvisation at St Albans.
Whilst Assistant Organist at Birmingham Cathedral she founded the Girls' Choir in 1992, and started teaching for the Diocese as outreach. This vocational trait characterised her subsequent appointments – to Portsmouth Cathedral & Diocese (2000-2005) and Lincoln Diocese, as Music Development Officer in 2008. A period of nearly 15 years was spent at St Stephen's Westminster, for whom she oversaw the installation of a repurposed J J Binns organ as well as running a volunteer choir. As RSCM Deputy Director for Education she was completely pre-occupied from 2012 to 2020 and she is now returning to more direct teaching, writing, and learning to play the organ again. Her former students are nearly all involved in church music at varying levels, to her ongoing delight.
Charles Paterson was born in Ipswich in 1954, and was singing, playing and writing music from an early age. After a Classics degree at Cambridge, he taught at Tiffin School, Kingston upon Thames and then at Leicester Grammar School, where for twenty five years he was director of the school choir, while also being involved in various local choirs as conductor and/or singer. Since moving to the Isle of Wight in 2018 he has been appointed Music Director of chamber choirs Cantus Vesperi and the Orpheus Singers, and is also active as organist in various churches around the island.
His compositions and arrangements have inevitably mostly been for choirs (several being recorded in 2016 by Leicester Cathedral Chamber Choir), but also include solo songs, chamber music, and music for organ (some of which has been published by fagusmusic.com). The Concertino for Descant Recorder and String Orchestra (published by Peacock Press) has received several performances, and has been recorded by John Turner, with the Manchester Sinfonia under Philip Spratley. Commissions have included a Christmas carol for the Richard III Society, and Christmas is Coming!, a short cantata for choir, children's choir and piano duet, for Stamford Choral Society. His website can be found at www.charlespaterson.co.uk.
Simon was born in Buxton in 1957, and following success as a treble soloist in the north west became a chorister at Peterborough Cathedral under the legendary Dr Stanley Vann. After reading English Language and Medieval Literature at Durham University, where he was a cathedral choral scholar, Simon embarked upon a teaching career principally in the south of England, and sang in several cathedral choirs. Upon retirement from teaching he joined Leicester Cathedral Choir just in time to take part in the remarkable Richard III reinterment ceremonies.
His interest in composition began at Peterborough where he directed a performance of one of his own choral pieces in the cathedral whilst still a boy chorister. Subsequently Simon's music has been widely published, performed, recorded and broadcast: for instance his anthem Come, praise the saints, for choir, organ and 3 trumpets was conducted by John Scott in St Paul's Cathedral, London, and his well-known Candlelight Carol featured in Lesley Garrett’s television series Christmas Voices.
Simon has also been a regular contributor to various musical and literary magazines, and has written widely on diverse aspects of music, language and literature. Poetry Of The Peak, a selection of Simon's poetry celebrating the Peak District, was published by Austin Macauley in November 2019; and three CDs featuring Simon's music have been recently released: The Beatific Vision, for Herald (sacred choral music) and, both on the Heritage label, Hush Little Child (Christmas carols) and a recording of his Song Cycles for soprano and baritone.
Sarah MacDonald is a Canadian-born organist, conductor and composer, living in the UK, and she currently holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and Director of the Girl Choristers at Ely Cathedral. She has been at Selwyn since 1999, and is the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel.
Sarah came to the UK from Canada in 1992 as Organ Scholar of Robinson College, Cambridge after studying piano, organ, and conducting at The Royal Conservatory of Music's Glenn Gould School in Toronto with Leon Fleisher, Marek Jablonski, and John Tuttle. At Cambridge she read for a degree in Music, and studied the organ with David Sanger.
Sarah has played numerous recitals and conducted choirs on tours throughout the UK, North America, the Middle East, New Zealand, and much of mainland Europe. She has made over 35 recordings, variously in the guises of pianist, organist, conductor and producer, and currently works most frequently with Regent Records. Sarah is a winner of the Royal College of Organists' (RCO) coveted Limpus Prize, and has taught organ and conducting for Eton Choral Courses, Oundle for Organists, the Jennifer Bate Organ Academy and courses run by the RCO. For its first decade, she was a Director of the annual Girl Chorister Course at St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, in New York City, and she is in demand as a director for international residential courses run by the RSCM and other organisations.
Sarah holds the Fellowship diploma of the RCO, and is an examiner for the RCO and for the Cambridge University Music Faculty. She has had numerous choral compositions published by Encore Publications, the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), August Press, and St James Music Press, and is series editor for an exciting series with Selah Publishing, featuring liturgical choral works by female composers. Sarah also writes a popular monthly column for the American Guild of Organists' magazine The American Organist, called 'UK Report'. In 2018 Sarah received the honorary ARSCM in recognition of her contribution to choral music in the UK and Canada, and the citation made particular mention of her support of contemporary British composers.
Nigel Allcoat is a British musician. He is internationally renowned as a teacher, performer, composer, and the doyen of our generation as an improviser. He has taught at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge for many years as well as conservatoires throughout the world. He lives in Leicestershire with two cats and the Isère region of France where he frequently gives international masterclasses.
Ray Cook was educated at Collyer’s before graduating from the London College of Music, where his Principal Study was organ with Professor Gordon Phillips. This was followed by the PGCE course, University of London. After three years of teaching he was appointed Director of Music of the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, Aylesbury. He retired after 31 years there during which time the school was awarded Performing Arts College status. He was honoured to be nominated for the Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year award.
He has been Joint Organist and Choirmaster at St Mary's Parish Church Aylesbury, then Director of Music at St Michael and All Angels, Aston Clinton. He was a member of Aylesbury Choral Society from 1975 and for much of the time was its chorus master, before leaving to live in Wiltshire where he now sings with Swindon Choral Society and occasionally conducts and takes sectional rehearsals. He is a member of the choir at Christ Church Cheltenham where he sometimes deputises as organist.
Ray is closely involved with the work of the Royal School of Church Music and is a member of three of its choirs, including the International Residentiary Choir, singing the services in cathedrals throughout the UK. He is a member of the Northumbrian Singers, performing at, amongst other places, Durham, St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. Ray is also a soloist and frequently acts as cantor, most recently at Durham Cathedral. He has occasionally conducted RSCM Voices South and West who have performed his Preces and Responses in various cathedrals including Rochester and Romsey Abbey.
Ray is an active composer and as well as his Preces and Responses he has written a set of Evening Canticles in D, a new setting for The Angel Gabriel and is currently working on a Te Deum.
Alastair Borthwick is a composer and musicologist, based at the University of Hull (UK), where he is a professor. He originally trained as a physicist at Imperial College London, while studying composition privately with John Lambert next door at the Royal College of Music. Music soon became the main focus of his activity, and a PhD in music (funded by the British Academy) from King's College London followed.
His compositions include music for soloists, instrumental ensembles, choirs and orchestras, which have been performed across the UK and Continental Europe, Turkey, China, Hong Kong and the USA. Commissions have been funded by organisations including Arts Council England, Performing Rights Society, and Beijing Modern Music Festival. They have ranged from concert to liturgical and film music. His liturgical music has been performed in the USA and at the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, as well as in various churches across the UK.
Alastair at Polyphony Arts
During the past few years, Graham's music has been performed in the historic cathedrals of Exeter, Wells, Winchester, Gloucester, Canterbury, Bristol, Coventry, Southwark and Leicester as well as Buckfast Abbey, Selwyn College Chapel Cambridge and the University of Exeter. Further afield, his choral works have been sung in Christchurch Cathedral (NZ), St Paul's Cathedral (Valletta, Malta), Cathedral Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity (Onitsha, Nigeria), St John the Divine Cathedral (New York City), St John the Evangelist Cathedral (Cleveland, Ohio) and Grace Church Cathedral (Charleston, South Carolina). Chapel choirs in the States, Belgium and South Africa have also sung his work.
As Composer-in-residence for The King's Counterpoint, Graham has written music for their concerts in Charleston, SC and UK summer residencies at Wells Cathedral (2016) and Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey(2018). New works are being commissioned for their 2021 residencies at Canterbury and Ely. Graham is also an associate composer for the high voice ensemble Contrapunctus Early Music based in Cleveland, OH and the Fisher Consort in Cambridge, UK.
Graham's choral music has been well received at events such as Exeter Cathedral's Civic Service of Remembrance (2014) and at several of the services held in Leicester for the re-interment of King Richard III which attracted worldwide attention in 2015. The motet 'In memoriam; Ricardus Rex' was sung at the requiem led by the Archbishop of Westminster and in Leicester Cathedral. Other pieces were sung during 2017 at the Spoleto Festival (USA), Brandenburg Choral Festival (City of London) and at the Gloucester Music Festival 2018 in Gloucester Cathedral.
The Cambridge choral scholar ensemble Concanenda recorded several Keitch motets for their 'In memoriam' EP. Other works have been recorded by Antiphon in Exeter Cathedral for their 'O my people' CD (Willowhayne Records). A CD of Graham's choral works sung by Cantate (Budapest) will be released autumn 2019 by a well known English record label.
David Price is Organist and Master of the Choristers at Portsmouth Cathedral. Before he came to Portsmouth he was Assistant Organist of Ely Cathedral, having previously held organ scholarships at Rochester Cathedral and Croydon Parish Church.
During his time at Ely he toured Germany, Belgium, Holland, Poland and the Czech Republic with the cathedral choir. The choir's John Amner recording for Hyperion was critically acclaimed and was the Editor's Choice in The Gramophone music magazine.
Since David has been at Portsmouth the profile of the cathedral's music has been raised to new heights through twenty international tours, numerous recordings and regular work for the BBC. He has been pleased to lead vocal training sessions for other choirs and has recently worked in this capacity for the Diocese of Berlin and with the choir of Pembroke College, Oxford.
In addition to his duties at the cathedral, David serves on the council of the Royal School of Church Music. He has recently served two terms on the Association of English Cathedral's music and liturgy Committee.
In his tenth year in post, Portsmouth University conferred on David an Honorary Doctorate of Music in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to the development of music at the cathedral and for his contribution to the cultural life of the city. In the same year he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of St Cecilia.
Recent recital venues for David include Westminster Abbey, Chambery Cathedral and Alpe d'Huez in the French Alps and Trinity Church, Copenhagen in Denmark as well as Duisberg and Berlin. His St John Passion for Good Friday was published by Encore Publications in a series of the gospel passions alongside those by John Scott, Philip Moore and Richard Lloyd. In 2013 he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship of the Guild of Church Musicians and presented with this at a ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral. He is married to Kitty; they live in an historic house in Portsmouth built in 1805 and delight in restoring an old farmhouse in the French Alps.
Nia Llewelyn Jones is Singing Development Leader at Gloucester Cathedral, a position that she became the first to hold in 2014. Her remit is to enthuse and encourage the children of the diocese to sing. She directs the thriving Cathedral Junior Choir and is responsible for the Music Department's termly Junior Voices Project where, to date, she has coached almost 2,000 school children to sing as part of the cathedral's mission. She is also the inaugural Conductor of the Girl Choristers, following the historic admission of girls as members of the cathedral choir in November 2016.
Nia frequently works as a guest conductor with the symphonic choruses of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra. She is also regularly involved in youth and education projects. Most recently, she conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a concert series about the Symphony Orchestra. The live and televised performances engaged children with classical music as part of a celebration of the 10th birthday of the Welsh language children's television network, CYW, and the 90th anniversary of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Elsewhere, Nia has been invited to work with The Sage, Gateshead's Education division, the CBSO's choral forces and Learning and Participation department.
Nia was conductor of the National Youth Choir of Wales in 2015, and directed the choir on tour in Argentina as part of the monumental Patagonia 150 celebrations. She also directed the National Youth Training Choir of Wales in 2016.
Nia grew up in North Wales where singing and choral music played a central part in her musical upbringing. After reading music at Robinson College, Cambridge, she won a full scholarship to study with Simon Halsey on his collaborative course between the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the University of Birmingham.
Stephen Burtonwood was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria. His late father became a Minister within the Methodist Church, and consequently Stephen's earliest impressions of music in worship were in the context of Methodist traditions.
Stephen trained for teaching at Westminster College, North Hinksey, Oxford, where he received organ lessons from the late John Webster (organist to Oxford University and Professor of Organ at Trinity College of Music, London), followed by Walter Hillsmann.
Stephen is married, with two musical daughters. He taught Music within secondary education until his retirement. He has served as organist in a variety of Methodist and Anglican Churches.
Stephen's music was initially championed by Ian Wells, who, for many years, was Assistant Organist at Liverpool Cathedral. Professor Ian Tracey conducted The Royal Liverpool Choir and Orchestra performing one of Stephen's carols on Classic FM. The late Professor Massimo Nosetti, who taught Organ and Composition at Cuneo Conservatoire, recorded on CDs and played many of Stephens organ works around the world in his capacity as a well-known concert organist. Professor Kevin Bowyer has recorded three of Stephen's organ works on a CD which is due for release early in 2019.
Stephen's music has received good reviews in Organists Review, The Organ, Church Music Quarterly and on the RSCM website.
As a Christian, he hopes that his music may serve to adorn worship as well as any uses it has in concert and recital work.
Peter Thompson combines an eclectic career as parish priest, cathedral assistant organist, teacher and composer. He trained at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and read music and theology at The Queen's University of Belfast, majoring in organ performance. Postgraduate studies in theology, ordination and family life intervened, keeping him away from the console for almost a decade. In 2010 he was asked to play the organ and train the choir in Armagh Cathedral for two weeks while the Organist was on sick leave. Seven years later he is still the Assistant Organist at the Cathedral, Director of the Voluntary Choir, as well as Succentor. He founded and directs the Diocesan Singers, and is the tutor on the Diocesan Organ Scholarship Scheme. He has lectured in Music and Worship at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin. He has a passion for resourcing parish musicians, and has edited the hymnal Thanks & Praise, to which he has also written a Companion, he has published a three-volume series of responsorial psalms, Singing Psalms, as well as numerous anthems for small choir.
I studied piano from the age of eight, but with work interests that tapered out in my late teens. I had dabbled with composing but started taking it seriously in the 1990s, hence a four movement organ suite, of which the 1st movement has been recorded in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.
I am, as Paul Derrett says, one of the most sought-after organ voicers in the UK, and as such work closely with organ builders from all round the world.
Music has played a large part in my life, particularly after experiencing an epiphany moment hearing the Trumpet Voluntary played by my father for a wedding. My first organist post was at the local Catholic church, supposedly 'just for two or three years' to get the hang of playing for services. Eighteen years later, I transferred from there to become Director of Music at All Saints Church, Birchington, having sung in their choir for evening services for a number of years.
I enjoy writing music, much of which has been performed not only by the church choir and other local choirs, but also on occasions in Canterbury Cathedral, Rochester Cathedral, Hexham Abbey and as far afield as the USA, Nigeria & Canada. This music often attracts positive comments from the congregation. Whether for the choir ('That was a little piece of Heaven' about Ne reminiscaris) or organ ('I just needed that' about one of my hymn meditations), I believe that my music appeals in its tunefulness and ability to set a mood. My first serious attempt at music writing - a new tune and arrangement for Christina Rossetti’s In the Bleak Mid-Winter - won a local competition. I now have over 100 compositions, including a Requiem, a Missa Brevis, a setting of an extract from Caedmon’s 'Dream of the Rood', many short anthems & quite a few hymn descants.
Aside from music, I spent twenty seven years in the civil service before taking early retirement to enjoy family life, walking and bell ringing.
Paul Hayward is a Midlands-based conductor and composer. He holds a master's degree in choral composition by research from the University of Aberdeen and is currently studying for a PhD in the same field. A former assistant cathedral organist, Paul conducts several choirs alongside freelance work, and held a composer-in-residence position for two years at a greater parish church.
Further information can be found at www.paulhayward.org.uk.
After reading Music at Cambridge University, studying with Robin Holloway, Hugh Wood and Alexander Goehr, Gareth went into a teaching career, spending time as Assistant Director of Music at both Caterham and Kingston Grammar School. Following 12 years as Director of Music at Old Palace of John Whitgift School he is now Director of Music at The Portsmouth Grammar School.
Composition and arranging work has largely focused on music for school choirs, orchestras and jazz groups. As a choral director Gareth has coached children's choruses for productions with English National Opera, Garsington Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera and the Royal Opera House.
In addition to teaching and composing Gareth enjoys playing and gigging as a jazz pianist.
Justin Breame lives and works as a composer and teacher in the UK. His concert works range from solo guitar to choral and orchestral. His work also includes pieces for fixed media and short film and documentary scoring. He has been successful in calls for scores for Vox Novus (NY) and the Music Makers of London choral competition. His string quartet The Dark Entry was a winner in a call for scores by the Grammy Award-winning contemporary ensemble Orchestra of Our Time, based in New York. His works have been performed in the UK, USA, Canada and Europe.
Bass-baritone Edmund Saddington began his musical career as a chorister in the cathedral choir of Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire and as a gap-year choral scholar in the choir of Portsmouth Cathedral before embarking on undergraduate study at London's Trinity College of Music.
An experienced soloist and consort singer, he records and performs regularly with many of the UK and Europe's finest vocal ensembles, including The Monteverdi Choir, Gabrieli Consort, BBC Singers, Academy of Ancient Music, Eric Whitacre Singers, Stile Antico, John Rutter's Cambridge Singers, The Marian Consort and Collegium Vocale Gent. For the last five years Edmund was a lay clerk in the choir of Winchester Cathedral; he is now a permanent member of the choir of HM Chapels Royal, Tower of London.
Edmund studies singing with Brindley Sherratt and Gary Coward; he composes when time allows.
Nathan is a freelance choral composer, conductor and accompanist. He has worked alongside composers such as Ruth Gipps, Norman Kay, Peter Aston, Will Todd and Patrick Hawes in performing new choral repertoire, and has conducted the English Chamber Orchestra, Norfolk Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra Anglia for a variety of concert engagements.
As a pianist, he regularly works with singers from The Monteverdi Choir, English National Opera and Glyndebourne, as well as supporting the work of the John Lewis Partnership Music Society across the UK.
Nathan's music has been performed in a wide variety of diverse locations, including the Royal Festival Hall, the Edinburgh Fringe, and cathedrals and concert halls across Europe.
David was born in Winchester in 1983, and has been at the helm of award-winning David Barton Music since 2001. He combines a busy portfolio of teaching, accompanying and composing both from his base in Lichfield, and across the UK.
David has over 100 compositions and arrangements published in the UK, USA and Canada, and thousands of copies of his music have been sold worldwide. These include works for solo voice, choir, organ, woodwind, orchestra and chamber ensembles. Regular performances, particularly of choral works, take place especially in the USA.
David writes in a variety of styles, but mainly classical. His music is designed to be tuneful, generally easy on the ear and accessible to a wide range of ensembles, particularly those with limited resources. A number of works have received favourable reviews in Church Music Quarterly, Clarinet &hellips; Saxophone Magazine and Pan Magazine. In 2011, his setting of A Celtic Blessing was selected as one of the prestigious JW Pepper Editor's Choice for that year.
Jonathan Millican read music at Lancaster University from 2000-2004 where he gained a masters' degree in Performance and Musicology. Born in Carlisle, he was a chorister under Andrew Seivewright and Jeremy Suter and still sings as bass lay clerk at Carlisle Cathedral. Specialising mainly in choral music, his compositions have been performed regularly in services in Carlisle Cathedral and in local schools and churches.
Jonathan has performed around the country as a soloist, both as a treble and a baritone, including roles in Bach's St John Passion, Samson, Judas Maccabaeus, Messiah and Elijah. Alongside his solo work he has had several directing roles including The Lanercost Festival Chorus, Carlisle Cantate Childrens choir (co-founded with Edward Taylor), Assistant Organist at Carlisle Cathedral, and the Abbey Singers, a choir founded by Andrew Seivewright and previously directed by Jeremy Suter.
As well as his performance and directing roles, Jonathan works at the University of Cumbria as a Senior Lecturer in Singing and Community Liaison, delivering vocal performance workshops and masterclasses to undergraduate students, schools and community projects around the north of England.
David Fawcett was born in Radcliffe, Lancashire in 1964. A keen singer from his earliest years, when his family moved to Lincolnshire he became Head Chorister and then Organ Scholar at Gainsborough Parish Church. He became an Associate of the Royal College of Organists at 17 then took the Organ Scholarship at Nottingham University, where he read music and took every opportunity to gain experience as a conductor.
Alongside a career in the civil service and the BBC in London, he maintained his music activities principally by conducting the Festival Chorus, a South London choral society, for 26 years. In 2010 he gave up his career altogether to give more time to music, returning to his musical roots in the church by becoming Director of Music at St Mary's, Balham. This post gave him the excuse to take composing more seriously, in order to generate a steady flow of pieces specifically for his own choir. As his technique has developed, so has the range of ambition in his choral works, encompassing the simplest unison to three part anthems, as well as multi-voice motets and carols.
In 2014 he relocated to Swanage in the Isle of Purbeck, continuing to work with choirs large and small.
Alan Smith was born in London in 1962. He was Organ Scholar at Kings' College, London, where he studied composition with Nicola LeFanu and David Lumsdaine, and also held a Licentiate Diploma in Composition from Trinity College, London. He was Musical Director of his local parish church, St Andrew's in Burgess Hill. In January 2009, he was appointed Composer-in-Residence to the Burgess Hill Choral Society. Alan left full-time teaching after running a busy music department for 22 years in order to pursue a career as a freelance musician and combined performing, lecturing and examining with his activities as a composer
From his first competition success in 1990, Alan's choral and organ compositions won numerous awards and prizes and his works have featured in both the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music and the 2007 Festival of New Organ Music. More recent successes include the 2012 AGO-ECS Publishing Award for Choral Composition, making him the first British composer to win this prestigious American prize, as well as the 2013 Pallant Prize.
Alan's output is predominantly of choral and vocal music; his work is widely performed throughout Europe and America, and has been broadcast on both BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Many of Alan's compositions are written for specific choirs or occasions and later commissions included work for the Burgess Hill Choral Society (Sussex, UK), St James the Greater (Charlestown, WV), the Cantilena Singers (Croydon, UK), Millfield School (Somerset, UK) and a chamber organ piece for Paul Ayres (London, UK). His catalogue runs to nearly 300 pieces, most of which are available from 17 different publishers in the UK and America, or from his website www.cantabile-music.com.
Alan died in 2017. He was only 54.
Born and educated in the Home Counties, Laurence started piano lessons age 4, cello lessons age 9, and organ lessons age 11. He held his first organist post the following year. Having studied music composition with Robert Ramskill at Coventry University, he graduated with a 2:1 in Music Composition and Professional Practice. Laurence is Assistant Organist at All Saints', Northampton. He is an experienced accompanist, specialising in choral accompaniment and working with solo vocalists. He studies organ with Richard Brasier, is an active recitalist, and has played at venues in the UK, including in Brecon, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Winchester, and in Norway and the USA.
David Truslove graduated with a degree in music from Cardiff University in 1980, and gained an M.Mus in Musicology in 2012 from Southampton University, where he studied composition briefly with Michael Finnissy. He is a choral specialist, with many years experience as both conductor (Romsey Choral Society from 1991 - 2012) and alto lay-clerk (variously at St Michael's College, Tenbury, Rochester Cathedral and, from 1988, Winchester Cathedral where he sang for nineteen years). As well as composing he also teaches part-time, undertakes freelance proof-reading work and contributes programme notes to music festivals.
John Hosking was born in Cornwall in 1976 and studied the organ with Peter Jolley and David Briggs. At the age of 18 he was awarded the Organ Scholarship at the Royal Parish Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, also winning the Robertshaw Exhibition from the Royal College of Organists to study with Martin Baker.
A student at the Royal College of Music from 1995 - 1999, John was appointed the Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey in 1996 and is the only person to have ever held this post for a period of three years. During this time he accompanied the Abbey Choir on many Royal and State occasions, broadcast on BBC Radio and gave 20 solo recitals in the Abbey. Upon graduating, John acted as Assistant Organist at Lincoln and Truro Cathedrals before being appointed Master of the Choristers at Bramdean School in Exeter.
In much demand as a recitalist and accompanist, John has given concerts in Sweden, Germany, Canada and America and broadcast on BBC 1, BBC 2, S4C, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and worldwide on the Sky News and CNN programmes. He appears on several commercial CDs as soloist and accompanist, and has just recorded his third solo CD for Regent Records at St Asaph Cathedral, due for release at the end of 2012.
John has been Assistant Organist of St Asaph Cathedral since September 2004, in which role he acts as principal accompanist to the Cathedral Choir. He is also Organist of St. Winefride's Roman Catholic Church in St. Asaph, and Accompanist to the St. Asaph Choral Society. Active as a composer, John has recently completed commissions for the St. Asaph Choral Society, Cor Meibion Trelawnyd and the Choir of Bangor Cathedral. His Christmas Carol In a Lowly Stable's Manger was featured by the BBC last Christmas and a large work, The Seven Trumpets for the St Asaph and Colwyn Choral Societies scored for chorus, organ, brass and percussion will be premiered in December 2013.
Bass baritone Jamie W. Hall is a professional consort singer and concert soloist based in London and the south east. Currently a member of the world-famous BBC Singers, Jamie has made numerous recordings and radio broadcasts and performs regularly in concert venues around London and the UK.
Born in a small mining village in the Nottinghamshire coalfield, Jamie's singing career began when a rather frank appraisal of his keyboard skills lead him to conclude that his career as a concert pianist was going nowhere. Since then he has studied voice, reading music at Liverpool and then moving on to become a lay clerk with the cathedral choirs of Chester and more recently, Winchester.
Jamie's website
Wyn Pearson read music at The University of Wales, Bangor, gaining a Bachelor of Music degree in 1993, a Postgraduate Diploma in 1995 and a Master of Music degree, also in 1995. Since then, Wyn has worked as a guitarist and Musical Director extensively throughout the UK, Europe and beyond with numerous artists in a variety of venues. He has been employed as a session musician for radio, television, film and as a studio musician working on many recordings. Wyn continues to appear regularly on S4C (Channel 4 Wales), working on programmes filmed in front of studio audiences, whilst freelancing with other artistes, most notably Katherine Jenkins, Michael Ball and legendary rock producer Alan Parsons.
Wyn is proud to be guitarist with renowned folk singer Siân James, and in 2009, went with her to represent Wales at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington.
Original works have received performances by members of the National Orchestra of Wales and the Society for the Promotion of New Music. He won the Instrumental Ensemble category for Composition at the Welsh National Eisteddfod in 2000 and the coveted Tlws Y Cerddor (composers' medal) at the National Eisteddfod in Flintshire in 2007.
Wyn has recently completed Hybrid Picking, a tuition book and DVD, which is published worldwide by Mel Bay Publications.
Wyn Pearson's website
Edward-Rhys Harry comes from the village of Penclawdd, on the North Coast of The Gower Peninsula. As a fourteen year old he was first employed as an organist and also began conducting rehearsals for local Cymanfaoedd Canu (singing festivals). Undergraduate studies in composition and voice at University of Wales Bangor (through the medium of Welsh) were followed with postgraduate study in Music Technology and Sound Recording. Following a successful career lecturing in sixth form colleges where he gained his Qualified Teacher Status and which supported his further study in composition, at the London College of Music, where he studied under Francis Pott and Laurence Roman, he graduated with a Master of Music degree. In 2006 when the National Eisteddfod came to Felindre near Swansea, Edward was proud to be made a member of Gorsedd Y Beirdd.
He left full time teaching after winning a scholarship to study Choral Conducting with Simon Halsey, Adrian Partington and Neil Ferris at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, in Cardiff. During his studies he was the first (and second) recipient of the RWCMD Glynne Jones Conducting Scholarship and graduated with an MA degree. Edward is the first Welshman to receive a recognised qualification in Choral Conducting. He is currently a doctoral student in the field of Choral Training Techniques - at the RWCMD, whilst working as a freelance composer, arranger and conductor.
This season Edward has already completed choral commissions from Llandaff Cathedral Choir and the Arts Council of Wales, as well as a landmark world premiere recording of Joseph Parry's Te Deum, with the London Welsh Chorale. In October he conducted The London Welsh Festival of Massed Male Choirs at the Royal Albert Hall. He will be the vocal coach for a Music Theatre company in Germany this December, will coach the Chorus of the Volgograd Opera House (Russia) in January, will return to Volgograd as the inaugural Artistic Director of Voces Volgograd', a choral festival, in April. In early May he will direct Cor Bro Ogwr in performances of his reconstruction of Joseph Parry's Emmanuel in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and New York, as well as conducting a Cymanfa Ganu in Lancaster, PA.
Edward directs the London Welsh Male Voice Choir, Reading Festival Chorus, Côr Bro Ogwr (Bridgend) and the London Welsh Chorale, as well as his own choir 'The Harry Ensemble', who perform and promote British (particularly Welsh) choral music abroad. He is Associate Conductor of the British Sinfonietta. He remains in demand as a workshop leader and choral clinician across the UK.
For further information please visit www.edwardrhysharry.com or www.harryensemble.com.
William Morris is a composer, educator, musical director and performer. With a BA from Bristol University in Music, followed by an MA in Composition for Film and Television with Distinction from Kingston University, William combines a classical background with a modern creative approach. Published by Chichester Music Press, a member of PRS, MCPS, BASCA and a Professional Writing Associate of Mercury Musical Developments, William receives commissions across varied media from film, to theatre and the concert platform. His specialist fields are in such diverse areas from traditional choral works and pastiche composition to contemporary film scoring and sequencing techniques. His compositions have been performed in such prestigious venues as Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, G-Live Guildford, The Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, and he has written music for award-winning films and documentaries for Channel4, BBC4, More4 and BBC Radio 3.
William comes from a strong choral background. As a boy treble he was Head Chorister at The Temple Church, and performed as a soloist with The Royal Choral Society, and as an adult he sang in the Bristol University Chamber Choir. Since graduation he has been director of a number of church choirs in south west London. This classical grounding is reflected in his choral compositions. William currently combines being Director of Music at Shrewsbury House School with his composing and academic work. He has worked with postgraduate students from The Royal Academy of Music and The Central School of Speech and Drama, workshopping his musicals.
William's research interests include looking at the effectiveness of different methods of analysis of music for screen. With the increased use of library music and commercially released tracks, the role of the screen composer has evolved, as has their relationship to the industry. Having spent a year teaching music in the foothills of the Himalayas, William experienced the meeting of Western classical harmony and traditional Eastern music first hand. He illustrates this diversity of experience and media in his composition and academic work.
Pentatone
Gareth was born in Watford in 1972 to Welsh parents. A late-starter in music, he worked on theory, harmony and composition privately with Michael Regan who encouraged him to continue music at university. He subsequently went to study for a BMus at the University of Wales, Bangor, where his lecturers included Peter Flinn.
After graduating, he worked for two years as a church organist and choir director, always having in his mind the idea of doing some postgraduate studies in composition. The opportunity came when he was accepted by the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and he was persuaded by his French wife to move to France. At the Ecole Normale he studied with Michel Merlet for three years and was awarded the Diplôme Supérieur de Composition, winning the first prize as well as the Prix de la SACEM 2006.
He currently lives in Lyon with his wife, and Betsi, their rather grumpy cat. There he tries to earn a living as a teacher of music and English, and as a translator, composing when he has the time, which can be quite often. His work has been performed in Britain, France and Japan and his Prelude for Harp was the set piece at the Lyon Conservatoire end-of-year harp examinations in June 2007.
Ben Costello is a freelance musical director, singing coach, accompanist, and adjudicator, working internationally. He is also Artistic Director of the prestigious London concert series Thames Concerts, Chorus Master for the Leith Hill Musical Festival, Founding Director of Kingston Chamber Singers, a lecturer in musical theatre at the University of Portsmouth and a singing teacher at Tiffin Girls' School. He is a long-standing and busy generalist music adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals, and in this capacity judges at festivals throughout the UK and overseas. For the Federation he is also an adjudicator mentor, and on the panel assessing potential new adjudicators.
A specialist in musical theatre, Ben has been musical director on numerous productions, and has taught at many of the major London colleges including Arts Ed, Mountview, LAMDA, GSA, Trinity Laban, Laine Theatre Arts, Drama Studio London, and the Royal Academy of Music. Countless of his former singing students enjoy successful careers in London’s West End and beyond. He is also a busy accompanist, working with a variety of singers and instrumentalists in a range of performing environments. Ben also enjoys playing for Cantabile (The London Quartet) and has given concerts with them in Germany, Belgium and the UK.
Born in London, Ben’s early career included repetiteur work for the London Symphony Orchestra. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, is Chairman of its Jazz Committee and chairs the Company's annual musical direction scholarship.
Mark Hartt-Palmer became Leader of the Chichester Symphony Orchestra in 2000 succeeding Ted Richards. He studied locally with Samuel Coates and subsequently continued under Frances Mason at the Royal College of Music where he studied violin, viola and piano. Since then he has become well-known as a soloist, recitalist, conductor, arranger and musical director.
Solo performances have included the concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Sibelius, Elgar (the concerto at the 2002 Chichester Festivities attracted critical acclaim), Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending.
As a recitalist, Mark has played for many years as a duo with Richard Barnes, notable features of their partnership being a recital series in Portsmouth's Menuhin Room and a concert at Magdalen College Chapel, Oxford.
Mark is Musical Director of Havant Light Opera, a post he has held since 1999, and he has conducted them in several Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He has also directed the Hayling Musical Society, with whom he has conducted performances of Oklahoma!, Half a Sixpence and most recently in their production of Leslie Bricusse's Scrooge in which he arranged the score for wind quintet and two keyboards. He was Musical Director for Blake Lapthorn Solicitors' pantomime, in which he undertook the vocal arrangements and orchestration.
Several of Mark's arrangements have been performed, most notably reduced orchestrations of Iolanthe and The Gondoliers.
Currently Mark is Musical Director of Petersfield Hi-Lights, whose staging of The Music Man took place in May 2005.
Rex Latter was taught piano by a Miss Lily Hillier, well known in her time as both pianist and mandolin player, organ by Eileen Belchamber and harmony by Norman Demuth, a professor at the Royal Academy of Music.
Currently organist at Bognor Parish Church (St. Wilfrid), he has a busy life as accompanist to various choirs and musical groups including Sounds Sacred of Arundel and until recently The Bognor Regis Choir, alas now ceased. He sings tenor in Off Centre, a (mostly) a cappella chamber choir, as well as working with a number of individual singers and instrumentalists in the area. He is also an active member of the Bognor Regis Music Club.
He started composing music at the age of 13 and has produced a modest output of largely church music spasmodically throughout his working life. Now in retirement, that has increased considerably and he is now exploring the world of instrumental music.
Peter Flinn studied at the University of Wales, Bangor, where he now lectures in Composition, Orchestration and History of Twentieth Century Music. He studied composition with William Mathias in Bangor and later with John Joubert in Birmingham and was awarded the BMus Degree in 1989, the MMus Degree in 1991 and a Doctorate in 1995. He has composed many works for brass band, brass ensembles, choir and orchestra in addition to a growing and impressive body of chamber music.
Significant works include Paean (trumpet and piano), Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (unaccompanied SATB choir), Fanfare for the Launch of a Ship (brass band), Three Poems for Orchestra, Lullaby and Dances (solo treble/tenor recorder), Three Miniature Portraits (clarinet choir), Down to Earth (double bass and piano) and Lamentationes (written for the Fitzwilliam String Quartet). His music has been performed extensively throughout Britain alongside important performances in the USA and Europe.
Three Contrasting Pieces (solo organ) won Tlws y Prif Gyfansoddwr at the Royal National Eisteddfod in 1994 and was subsequently performed on television and radio, and a commission funded by the Ida Carroll Trust led to a work for chamber orchestra in memory of Professor Peter Crossley Holland.
In addition to his lecturing, Peter is an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and plays organ, harpsichord and percussion. He has been invited to give lectures and talks throughout the world, most recently travelling to Malaysia as a visiting professor, giving lectures on Stravinsky and Orchestration.
Tamsin Jones studied music at the universities of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Birmingham, earning her doctorate from the latter with a thesis on Schutz's Passion settings. She has recently returned to the UK after working in southern Japan for many years, and is now pursuing a career as a freelance musician and writer.
Victoria Larley was born in Chichester and read music at university before pursuing a career as a teacher of singing and piano. She teaches at Kingscourt School in Hampshire, and Prebendal School - Chichester Cathedral's choir school - in West Sussex.
Victoria sings contralto and performs both locally and further afield as well as being an organist of St Wilfrid's Church, Chichester.
James Webb studied composition with Richard Hoadley at Charterhouse, George Benjamin at the Royal College of Music, and Robin Holloway at Cambridge University. He began a postgraduate degree at Lampeter University, before working for two years as a producer with BBC Radio 3.
In 1992 he won the first BBC Young Musician of the Year Composers Award, and has had music performed by many diverse groups including London Voices, the Delta Saxophone Quartet, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has sung as a lay clerk at Llandaff Cathedral and St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh. In 2012 he left his post as the Director of Music at Wimbledon High School in London to take up the equivalent post at Hull Collegiate School.
Christopher Larley read music at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. After a year spent as Lay Clerk of Llandaff Cathedral, combined with teaching at the Choir School, he moved to Chichester.
From 1996 to 2004 he was a Tenor Lay Vicar of Chichester Cathedral, but from January 2005 he has been Director of Music at St. Paul's Church, Chichester.
Christopher now combines percussion teaching at Prebendal School, Bishop Luffa, Lavant House and St. Margaret's, Midhurst with solo singing, composing and directing various choirs.
He conducts Chantry Quire and has recently undertaken a role conducting one of the West Sussex County Council Choirs for the new Chorus project for young voices, the Central Singers.
Recent and forthcoming solo engagements include Lloyd Webber's The Saviour in Sussex, Mozart's Requiem in London and Britten's St. Nicholas as part of the Chichester Festivities.
Christopher has written many pieces for choral and instrumental ensembles.
