Our People
We are lucky to have twelve outstanding choral experts and composers on our team.
President
Bob Chilcott
Bob Chilcott, described by the Observer as “a contemporary hero of British Choral Music”, has become one of the most widely performed composers of choral music in the world. He has a large catalogue of works published by Oxford University Press, and these include several large-scale works, sacred and secular pieces for mixed choir, and music for upper-voice choir.
Amongst his major works, Salisbury Vespers, written in 2009, was first performed by over 600 singers and players in Salisbury Cathedral. His Requiem of 2010 has now been performed in sixteen countries, and his large-scale cantata, The Angry Planet, was premièred in the 2012 BBC Proms by 550 adult and young singers. In March 2013 his St John Passion was premièred in Wells Cathedral by the Cathedral Choir conducted by Matthew Owens.
Of his smaller works, A Little Jazz Mass remains a favourite with choirs around the world as do his cantata, The Making of the Drum, and many of his pieces for children’s choir, including the piece with sign language, Can you hear me?.
Between 1997 and 2004 he was conductor of the chorus of the Royal College of Music in London and since 2002 he has been Principal Guest Conductor of The BBC Singers. He has been privileged to conduct many choirs in over 23 countries over the last ten years.
May 2013 saw his first recording for Naxos, and the second, a disc of Christmas music, follows later in 2013. His Requiem has been recorded by the Choir of Wells Cathedral, and many other choirs and groups have recorded his music including The Cambridge Singers, The Sixteen, The King’s Singers, The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, the BBC Singers, The Sirens, Wrocław Philharmonic Choir, and The Choir of Westminster Abbey.
Visit Bob Chilcott’s website.
Patrons
David Wordsworth
After postgraduate studies at the City University and the Guildhall Hall School of Music & Drama and a period of teaching, David held senior positions with two major music publishers, Schott and OUP. Here he developed close working relationships with some of the most important composers of our time, including Tippett, Ligeti, Dutilleux, Penderecki, Shchedrin, Eben and Henze. After moving to OUP in 2008, David worked with John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, Gerald Barry, Michael Berkeley, Cecilia
McDowall, Howard Skempton and Gabriel Jackson, whose music he has continued to champion as a performer.
David was appointed Music Director of the Addison Singers in 1996 and conducted almost all the choirs London concerts until he stepped down as Music Director at the end of 2022. Under David’s direction the choir also sang on tour in the USA, Austria, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Spain, France, Italy and Hungary, singing in venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), St Stephen’s Cathedral (Vienna), Salzburg Cathedral, St Stephen’s Cathedral (Budapest), Montserrat Basilica, the Madeleine (Paris), and the cathedrals of Truro, Cork and Kilkenny. Aside from a large amount of standard repertoire, works by Bach and Handel, the Requiems and Masses of Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Faure, and twentieth century classics by Vaughan Williams, Bernstein and Orff, David’s programmes with the Addison Singers included a great deal of late twentieth and early twenty-first century music, often written especially for the choir. Among the composers that wrote works especially for David and The Addison Singers were Cecilia McDowall, Gabriel Jackson, Howard Goodall, Bob Chilcott, Howard Skempton, William Bolcom, Jill Jarman, David Matthews, Edwin Roxburgh, Michael Berkeley, the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Gavin Bryars and the late Peter Dickinson. In 2022, Master of the King’s Music, Judith Weir wrote a substantial new choral / orchestral work, ‘O Sweet Spontaneous Earth’ for David’s last concert with the Addison Choirs, dedicating it to David.
In January 2012 David lead over 150 singers in a highly successful Singing-Day, focusing on Howard Goodall’s ‘Eternal Light’, given in the presence of the composer. This was followed by a Singing Day featuring the music of Morten Lauridsen (with the composer himself at the piano) and ‘Come & Sing Events’ based around ‘Eternal Light’ and the Mozart Requiem for ‘Singing for Syrians’ in London and at Dorchester Abbey. In 2018 David conducted a ‘Come & Sing’ event focused on American music (for St John’s Smith Square), a ‘Come and Sing Parry’ to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of the great English composer (St Paul’s, Covent Garden), the Bach ‘Magnificat’ at King’s Place (London), and at the beginning of 2020 two ‘Come and Sing’ events focussing on the Vivaldi ‘Gloria’ and Goodall’s ‘The Gravity of Kindness’. His most recent ‘Come & Sing’ event saw David work with singers on Howard Goodall’s ‘Never to Forget’ (again with the assistance of the composer), a moving choral work written in memory of health-workers who died during the early stages of the pandemic.
David has had a much-valued association with King’s Place, London – in 2011 he played an important part in a celebration of Percy Grainger, following this with a concert with the Gavin Bryars Ensemble (part of the award-winning ‘Minimalism Unwrapped’ series) in 2014 and a celebration of Howard Skempton’s 70th birthday in 2017. In January 2018 he was invited to become Associate Musical Director of the Brandenburg Choral Festival, following a long period of collaboration with both the Festival and the Brandenburg Sinfonia.
David has conducted and adjudicated in Hungary, Cuba, Mexico, Austria, France, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Italy, and throughout the US, holding residencies at the Universities of Syracuse, Iowa, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Michigan, Michigan State and Queen’s, New York, and has lead pre-concert lectures/interviews for the Kennedy Centre, the Lincoln Centre, The Juilliard School and Opera Theatre St Louis. He has addressed conferences and given workshops at the Universities of Aberdeen, York, the UST Conservatoire in Manilla (where he also conducted a concert with the Philippine Philharmonic) and the Chopin University in Warsaw.
In 2013 David acted as Artistic Director of ‘Singing Shakespeare’, a major project focusing on choirs the world over singing new and existing settings of the Bard. The launch concert was at Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon and David lead further Shakespeare related workshops for the Brandenburg Choral Festival (London), the Association of British Choral Directors (Cardiff), the Cork International Choral Festival and Sound (Scotland), that featured repertoire from his Shakespeare Choral Anthology, published by Novello in 2015. David’s other publications include articles on American and Polish music, a celebration of John Joubert’s 90th and Howard Skempton’s 70th birthdays, memorial tributes to his friends Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Alun Hoddinott and John McCabe, and a recent major two-part article on the choral music of Vaughan Williams for ‘Choir & Organ’. His two anthologies of new Christmas Carols by over thirty leading composers were published by Cadenza- Wise Music and he has made several choral/orchestral reductions and arrangements, including pieces by Judith Weir and the late Stephen Sondheim, which were published with the support of the original composers. David’s book, ‘Giving Voice to My Music’ (24 interviews with composers of choral music) was published by Kahn and Averill in August 2021 and launched at the Three Choirs Festival. Another new book ‘The Music of Gavin Bryars’, was published at the end of 2023, again by Kahn & Averill, to celebrate the composers 80th birthday. The summer of 2024 will see then publication of three new anthologies of choral music by Percy Grainger (to be published by Schott Music), and ‘Choruses from Benjamin Britten Operas’, an anthology to be published by Boosey & Hawkes.
In 2016 David conducted the Marian Consort and the Berkeley Ensemble in a revival of Sir Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Stabat Mater’ - performing the work at the Aldeburgh Easter Festival, the Spitalfields Festival (for a BBC broadcast) and the Cheltenham International Festival, also recording the work for Delphian Records, a CD that was critically acclaimed and was short-listed for a Gramophone Award.
2016 also saw a 90th birthday concert for the late Joseph Horovitz with the Addison Singers and East London Brass (Cadogan Hall), at which David conducted Horovitz’s dramatic Cantata for chorus and brass band, ‘Samson’. 2018 saw the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein and to celebrate this occasion, David curated a year-long festival of American music at St John’s Smith Square, London, and appeared as both pianist and conductor. The year included some 80 concerts between January-December 2018, a day of performances on July 4th and over a week of concerts in mid-October, featuring amateur choirs and orchestras, alongside many soloists of international standing. In July 2018 David lead a performance of the iconic ‘Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet’ by Gavin Bryars at the Three Choirs Festival, involving amateur singers and players from the Hereford area. Later in the year he conducted orchestral concerts (music by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and young composers), at the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Musikverein (Vienna). David has served on several musical foundations – he has been a Trustee of the William Alwyn Foundation, the Bliss Trust, both Vice-Chair and Chair of the Lennox Berkeley Society. David is at present Director of The John Ireland Trust.
The 22-23 season included his final four concerts as Music Director of the Addison Singers, as well as directing an English Choral Music Weekend in Vienna that culminated in a concert in St Stephen’s Cathedral, and a UK tour of Walton’s ‘Façade’ (to celebrate the works 100th anniversary), a project that reunited David with the Berkeley Ensemble. In December 2023 David made his debut at London’s Barbican Hall before a capacity audience, conducting an 80th birthday concert for Gavin Bryars, with the Addison Chamber Choir and the Gavin Bryars Ensemble.
Future plans include another recording with the Berkeley Ensemble, teaching and research at the University of Southern California, several trips to Poland to research for a new book about Polish choral music (thanks to scholarships from the Mickiewicz Institute and the Kosciuszko Foundation) and conducting Polish choirs in English music, as well as conducting the London premiere of ‘Marilyn Forever’ at the Grimeborn Opera Festival, an opera by Gavin Bryars about the final days of Marilyn
Monroe and conducting a performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna.
Later in 2024 David will begin a long-term project, with the support of the William Walton Trust, to write a new biography of the composer Sir William Walton.
January 2024
www.davidwordsworth.co.uk
David Lawrence
David Lawrence is one of the UK’s most versatile conductors, working with orchestras, symphony choruses and national youth choirs. In 2010 he was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award for his conducting, and he currently holds the Guinness World Record for conducting the UK’s largest choir – 6,846 singers!
David’s work has taken him to Singapore, Colombia, Canada, the United States, India, throughout Europe, and since 2005 he has worked annually in Australia. He is a popular guest conductor, and he is an experienced and respected trainer of choral conductors. He teaches regularly alongside Ghislaine Morgan in Portugal, and for the company Artsworks delivers management training and team building through the media of singing and conducting.
In 2013 he was appointed to the artistic staff of the London Symphony Orchestra as its Community Choir Director. He has also worked with the London Philharmonic Choir, the Hallé Choir, and the CBSO Chorus for whom he is the Associate Conductor, as well as the national youth choirs of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. David has adjudicated at international choral festivals, including the inaugural City of Derry Festival, as well as for the BBC Choir of the Year and Young Musician of the Year competitions. He conducts for BBC Television’s ‘Songs of Praise’ and directed ‘The People’s Chorus’ for BBC Four. As a guest chorusmaster for Netherlands Radio Choir he has worked with Stockhausen, John Adams, Kenneth Montgomery, and Frans Brüggen.
David has a particular passion for working with young people, and until recently was the regular conductor of the CBSO’s City of Birmingham Young Voices. In annual visits to Queensland he conducts schools and young people in Townsville at the Spirit of the Voice and Mulkadee singing festivals, runs a summer school for St Patrick’s College in Mackay, and has twice been the guest conductor at Hobart’s Festival of Voices. In the UK he has led singing days for schools including Cranford House, Hereford Cathedral, Surbiton High School, and The Leys in Cambridge, for the ARK Schools, and for music services including Staffordshire and Derbyshire.
As Principal Conductor of Young Voices, David directs massed choirs in an annual series of over 20 concerts with some choirs incorporating more than 8,000 singers. He continues to work with Sinfonia Viva as their Choral Advisor, project leader, and conductor, and has also directed large scale education projects with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, the English Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In 2015 he revisits Hobart’s Festival of Voices to conduct the SATB festival choir in Haydn’s masterpiece, The Creation and in the UK trains the LSO choirs for Jonathan Dove’s new opera.
Stephen Montague
Stephen Montague (b.10 March, 1943 Syracuse, New York) grew up in Idaho, West Virginia and Florida. He studied piano, conducting and composition at Florida State University (1963-67), received a doctorate in composition from Ohio State University (1972) and won a Fulbright Fellowship to work in Warsaw, Poland (1972-74). He first came to England as a musician with Strider Dance Co. (Richard Alston & co.), but since 1975 has worked as a freelance composer based in London and touring worldwide. His music has been widely performed, featuring in numerous international festivals, most recently at the BBC Proms (Royal Albert Hall, London), Sounds New (Canterbury), Wiener Musik Tage (Vienna), and Festival of Contemporary Music (Mexico City). Composer Portrait concerts devoted to his music have been given in London, Cambridge, New York, Houston, Mexico City, Vienna and Budapest. Major commissions include the BBC Proms, Portsmouth Cathedral (UK), Calgary Philharmonic (Canada), Hilliard Ensemble, International Computer Music Association, and a 35-minute work for narrator and orchestra for the London Symphony Orchestra (Benjamin Luxon, narrator) for the Barbican Centre, London, (with a further 14 performances by other leading British orchestras around the UK).
In addition to writing for traditional orchestral forces Montague has also written numerous more ‘experimental’ works such as his Horn Concerto for klaxon horn soloist and an orchestra of automobiles, and a concerto for piano, 8 motorcycles, brass and percussion. Although a long term UK resident, his compositional influences are often transatlantic. He comments: “I have lived in Britain since 1974 but my musical heroes remain American: I admire Charles Ives’s unapologetic juxtaposition of vernacular music and the avant-garde, Henry Cowell’s irreverent use of fist and arm clusters, the propulsive energy of minimalism and John Cage’s radical dictum that all sound is music“.
Stephen Montague was a founder (1980) of Sonic Arts Network, Concert Director (1983-87) and Chair; Chair and Artistic Director of the SPNM (Society for the Promotion of New Music) 1993-98; Associate Composer with The Orchestra of St Johns, London (1995-97); Featured Composer: City of Oxford (1997-98); Artistic Director of Contemporary Music Making for All (2004-05); and the New Music Associate at Kettle’s Yard Gallery and Museum, Cambridge (2010-12), where he curates a monthly concert series. Internationally Montague has been a Guest Professor at the University of Texas – Austin in 1992, 1995, 2000 and the University of Auckland, New Zealand,1997. Since 2007 he has taught part time at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (London).
Montague’s honours and awards include 1st Prize at the 1994 Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France), the Ernst von Dohnányi Citation for Excellence in Composition (1995), The Ohio State University Distinguished Alumnus Award (2000), Honorary Fellow (Hon FTCL, 2002), then Composer in Residence (2003) at Trinity College of Music, (London), and Honorary Fellow of Leeds College of Music (FLeedsCM, 2004). In 2006 his CD Southern Lament – (NMC D118) – featuring his piano works (played by Philip Mead), won the “Best New Piano Music Recording” award from International Piano magazine.
As a “virtuoso pianist” [New York Times] he has recorded for all the major European radio networks, performed at Carnegie Hall, New York City, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Paris’s Centre Pompidou. In 1985 he formed a duo with pianist Philip Mead, Montague/Mead Piano Plus, which toured internationally. He also collaborated with the late sculptor, Maurice Agis, for over 20 years providing multi-channel electroacoustic sound environments for Agis’s giant inflatable sculptures Colourspace andDreamspace. In his capacity as both a concert organiser and performer Montague has commissioned numerous works by leading composers which include Sir John Tavener, Michael Nyman, Frederic Rzewski and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin).
Stephen Montague is currently working on an orchestral commission for the Birmingham Royal Ballet (David Bintley, choreographer) to be premiered in 2015, and a work for narrator and chamber ensemble for the 2014 New Music Biennale.
Compact discs of Montague’s works are available on NMC (UK), ASV (UK), Signum (UK), Continuum (NZ), Centaur (USA), Point Records (USA) and others. In addition to music he is an active cyclist, hiker and tennis player (the former Florida Junior College Tennis Champion).
Sally Burgess
“The lady is superb, whether she turns her artistry to opera, jazz or Sondheim”. A statement that sums up her remarkable talents as one of the world’s leading operatic actresses and dramatic musical performers.
Sally Burgess is vocal Professor at the Royal College of Music, London. She was awarded her FRCM in 2011 and has been a member of the vocal faculty for 12 years. She is a visiting professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has headed their Introduction to Opera ( year 3 ) Studies since 2010.
Sally works with singers worldwide leading the Young Singers Programme for Les Azuriales Opera Festival, Nice for four seasons and returning annually to Moscow in collaboration with London Gates Education. In January 2013 she lead the inaugural Amazwi Omzansi Africa Performing Arts International Festival in Durban, South Africa.
She works with singers at the Royal Opera House on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, at Glyndebourne on the Jerwood Young Artists Programme, for Co-Opera Company, Associated Studios Opera Courses, and with British Youth Opera. Sally has a close relationship with Live Music Now, fronting their vocal and instrumental master class series in the aLuMNi programme. She adjudicates and examines for all UK conservatoires and is a member of the British Voice Association for whom she leads workshops and master classes.
Following Sally’s directorial debut for Tete a Tete Opera in the summer of 2009 in Mark Glentworth’s new opera Ula she directed Cosi van Tutte for English Chamber Opera, the world premiere of Sonya’s Story, and new productions of Il Trovatore for Dorset Opera, and Cosi fan Tutte for the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. She directed Magic Flute in 2011, Poppea in 2012, Albert Herring in 2013 and Mariiage of Figaro in 2014 for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Undergraduate program. In June 2013 she directed Over the Rainbow, music by Harold Arlen, for jazz singer Rosanna Brandi and the Neal Thornton at St. James’ Theatre, London.
During her long and distinguished career, Sally has made some of the most exciting operatic roles her own, the Sunday Times describing her as “The greatest exponent of Carmen I have ever seen”. Her operatic successes include performances at most of the major opera houses of the world including The Metropolitan Opera, Bayerisches Staatsoper, Munich, Opera National de Bastille, Paris, Opera de Geneve, Switzerland, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. On the concert platform she has collaborated with many esteemed conductors including Sir Mark Elder, Sir Charles Mackerras, Richard Hickox, Vassili Petrenko, Riccardo Chailli, and Daniel Barenboim. Her discography includes her acclaimed portrayals of Judith Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and HerodiasSalome for Chandos, Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio, and three jazz albums (Sally Burgess Sings Jazz, The Other Me, and Happy Talk).
Cecilia McDowall
Cecilia McDowall, (born in London in 1951), has been described by the International Record Review as having ‘a communicative gift that is very rare in modern music’. Often inspired by extra-musical influences, her writing combines a rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism ‘which is, at times, intensely moving’. She has won many awards and has been short-listed seven times for the British 
Composer Awards. In 2014 she won the British Composer Award for choral music. Her music has been commissioned and performed by leading choirs, including the BBC Singers, ensembles and at major festivals both in Britain and abroad and has been broadcast on BBC Radio and worldwide.
Her recent commissions include the Musicians Benevolent Fund St Cecilia anthem for the service of St Cecilia at St Paul’s Cathedral, sung by the joint choirs of Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and St Paul’s Cathedral, and liturgical works for Durham and Liverpool Cathedrals; a commission from the BBC (for Scunthorpe Cooperative Junior Choir, the winner of the BBC Radio 3 2008 Choir of the Year): the Welsh Chamber Orchestra, Jeremy Huw Williams, baritone, David Juritz, violin, conductor, Anthony Hose at the Beaumaris Festival; the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus in conjunction with the NE Community Choir for performance in Aberdeen in October, 2011, and from the City of London Sinfonia (a commission from the Scott Polar research Institute to celebrate the centenary of Scott’s death in 1912) which was performed in the Birmingham Symphony Hall in February, 2012.
Another recent choral work, the Shipping Forecast (commissioned by the Portsmouth Choir), gained national media attention. Cecilia says, ‘There’s something rather beguiling and mysterious about the Shipping Forecast which sounds most poetic, but at the same time is so crucial for those at sea’. The work reflects the mystery and force of the sea, drawing together the poetry of Seán Street, the psalm, ‘They that go down to the sea in ships’, and the words of the Shipping Forecast itself.
Much of her music is on disc; Dutton Epoch have released four CDs performed by the City of Canterbury Chamber Choir, Orchestra Nova, conductor, George Vass, and the Joyful Company of Singers, conductor Peter Broadbent. Three Antiphons have been recorded by the International Celebrity Trumpet Ensemble consisting of players from the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic on the Brass Classics label. The renowned American choir, Phoenix Chorale, have recorded Three Latin Motets on the Chandos label (Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary).This CD won a Grammy award in February, 2009, and was nominated for Best Classical Album.
Commissions for 2014-2015 include a short chamber opera, Airborne, marking the centenary of the First World War and works for the BBC Singers and Westminster Cathedral amongst others. In March, 2015 Dulwich College will give the premiere of Some corner of a foreign field at King’s College, Cambridge with the tenor soloist, Andrew Kennedy. Oxford University Press have signed Cecilia McDowall as an ‘Oxford’ composer and she is currently ‘composer-in-residence’ at Dulwich College, London. In 2013 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Portsmouth.
Her work for choir and cello, Night Flight, won the 2014 BCA choral award.
Howard Skempton
Howard Skempton was born in Chester in 1947, and has worked as a composer, accordionist, and music publisher. He studied in London with Cornelius Cardew from 1967 and Cardew helped him to discover a musical language of great simplicity. Since then he has continued to write undeflected by compositional trends, producing a corpus of more than 300 works – many pieces being miniatures for solo piano or accordion. Skempton calls these pieces “the central nervous system” of his work.
Skempton’s catalogue of works is also as diverse as it is long, ranging from pieces for solo cello (Six Figures, 1998), and guitar (Five Preludes, 1999), to the Chamber Concerto for fifteen players, the Concerto for Hurdy-Gurdy and Percussion, and Lento, premièred by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican in 1991, and performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov at the 2010 BBC Proms.
In May 2005 Skempton’s Tendrils for string quartet was awarded the prize for ‘best chamber-scale composition’ by the Royal Philharmonic Society, and in December 2005 it won in the chamber music category at the annual British Composer Awards. Skempton won a second British Composer Award in 2008 for The Moon is Flashing, a song cycle for tenor and orchestra commissioned by the BBC which was premièred by BBC NOW and James Gilchrist at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in September 2007 and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Many of Skempton’s compositions have been recorded, including the hugely successful Lento for orchestra on the NMC label by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the piano works performed by John Tilbury on the Sony Classical label, and Shiftwork by Ensemble Bash, also on Sony Classical. 2001 saw the release of Guild of The Flight of Song, an acclaimed choral collection performed by the choir of Queens’ College Cambridge under James Weeks. Vocal group Exaudi released a disc of Skempton’s choral music in September 2007, also on the NMC label. The recording, entitled Ben Somewhen, also featured chamber works performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. The Cloths of Heaven, a recording of Skempton’s choral music by the Exon Singers, was released on Delphian Records in June 2008, and in 2011 Mode Records released Bolt from the Blue a disc featuring Skempton’s piano and choral works.
Works have been commissioned and performed by leading artists including the BBC, Kathryn Tickell, New Noise, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s ‘Ensemble 10/10’. A work for the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Only the Sound Remains, for viola and ensemble, was premièred in February 2010 in a Skempton portrait concert. Other recent commissions include a choral work, Song’s Eternity for the 2010 Aldeburgh Festival, and Skempton is taking part in the New Music 20*12 Cultural Olympiad project – He will be writing a piece for eight church bells for the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers which will be performed to mark the opening of Spitalfields Festival at Christ Church, London, in June 2012.
Recent commissions include two from the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group — a work for oboe and string trio, Field Notes, and a setting of Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for baritone (Roderick Williams) and ensemble — and a Piano Concerto for John Tilbury commissioned by the BBC for a premiere at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2015.
Jacqui Dankworth
We are delighted that singer Jacqui Dankworth ‘The most flexible and expressive voice of her generation’ (The Observer, Jazz CD Of The Week) has agreed to be Patron of the Addison Singers Jazz Choir and Jazz Ensemble.
‘I come from a singing family – my grandmother ran a choir, my mother and uncle are both singers. I have always had an interest in choirs as my first experience in singing was with the Hertfordshire Youth Choir. It was an invaluable experience for me; it’s what got me started!
It is wonderful to know the Addison Singers are keeping alive the tradition of singing together in harmony, putting out great spirit and joy into the ether. Their commitment and devotion to the music are bound to inspire others who would love to sing and find their voice.
I am proud to be their patron.’
Jacqui Dankworth
12th May, 2008
‘Jacqui is one of our finest singers, regardless of category’ (The Times)
Jacqui was impressed by the professionalism, commitment and quality of the Jazz Choir and Jazz Ensemble’s music-making and we are thrilled that she has agreed to become our Patron.
Jacqui Dankworth is a remarkable artist of the highest calibre. With her beautiful, subtly powerful voice and assured technique, Jacqui defines a category of her own. She performs unique and exciting arrangements of jazz, original and contemporary songs, complemented by a band of wonderful musicians. She has toured with the Brodsky Quartet and recorded with them, alongside such guests as Sting, Elvis Costello, Bjork, Ian Shaw and Sir Paul McCartney. She featured on Courtney Pine’s album Devotion and sang with him at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the London Jazz Festival. Several tunes from her album As The Sun Shines Down On Me made the Jazz FM play list, and she receives repeated play on BBC Radio 2, especially on Michael Parkinson?s Sunday Supplement. A nominee for the BBCJazz Vocalist of the Year Award 2006, Jacqui was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music by the University of East Anglia in October 2006.
Visit Jacqui Dankworth’s website.
Professional Staff
Matthew Thomas Morgan
MATTHEW THOMAS MORGAN was born in Bexley, South-East London. His interest in vocal study began at Eltham College under the tutorship of Timothy Penrose. Matthew completed his time in higher education in 2015 where he studied consecutively at the Durham University, the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). Matthew has been fortunate to study with, amongst others, Neil Mackie CBE and Iain Paton during his time in education and currently learns with David Barrell.
Matthew has sung tenor solo roles with numerous choirs and has been a regular soloist with Durham University Choral Society (DUCS) and Tynemouth Choral Society. He is looking forward to working with choirs across the UK over the next few months as a performer and conductor. Matthew has a wide repertoire and he is particularly noted for his concert work throughout the UK where he has featured in the Westbourne Music Recital Series in Glasgow & Greenwich Early Music Festival amongst others. His credits in opera include Eumete (Ulisse), Don Basilio (Marriage of Figaro), Le journaliste (Mamelles de Tirésias) & Slender in Sir John in Love. Matthew has been an Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Opera in the 2016 & 2017 seasons singing in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, Handel’s Semele & covering ‘Don Curzio’ in Le Nozze di Figaro. He also worked on Garsington’s UK premier of Maometto II in 2013. He was also a choral scholar at both Durham and Portsmouth Cathedrals (2007 – 2011).
Matthew has been in demand in large scale projects throughout his career both as a soloist and conductor. Whilst at RCS he was one of the original members of the RCS Voices and involved in the hugely successful inaugural Coffee Concert series. Matthew performed as both a conductor and vocal performer at the Grenfell Tower Benefit Concert at Cadogan Hall, where money was raised for charities supporting survivors of that tragedy in September 2017. Matthew was Director of Music at St. Mary’s College, Durham University and as Chorus Master for the Durham University Music Society. He was appointed in April 2016 as the Musical Director of Parenthesis Choir, Reading, and was the first Assistant Conductor to the Hastings Philarmonic Choir & Orchestra. In the summer of 2017 he conducted Armide by Lully with Ensemble OrQuestra at the Grimeborn Festival at London’s Arcola Theatre. He acted as interim Musical Director for A-CHORD choir in Finchley during the Spring of 2019 and has held two Junior Fellowships in colleges at Durham University. He was ‘Musician in Residence’ in 2018 at St. Cuthbert’s Society and is currently ‘Arts and Community Outreach Fellow’ at Van Mildert College, where his work has spanned all forms of musical and outreach engagement. He was elected to be an Associate Fellow at Van Mildert College in February 2020. Since the COVID 19 crisis Matthew has engaged actively with the myriad of online seminars, webinars, performances and conferences offered by musicians. In additon he set up his own Perspex supply business 'SingScreen' to help design products for artists and performance spaces, to get the industry back on its feet. He looks forward to working with partners over the coming months to help the speedy return of music making across the UK & Europe.
Matthew Hough
MATTHEW HOUGH For the Addison Singers, Matthew works as Deputy Music Director, Director of the Jazz Ensemble, accompanist (Oratorio and Jazz choirs) and piano soloist. One of many highlights of his time with the Addison Singers has been as duettist with Walid El Yafi in Carl Czerny’s version of the accompaniment for Mozart’s Requiem at Michaelskirche in Vienna on 10 December 2019, the first time the piece had been sung on that date since the completed fragments were performed at the composer’s Requiem Mass in 1791.
His other appointments include accompanist at the City Literary Institute (City Lit) and accompanist for the Ealing Junior Music School (EJMS). He also performs as soloist, recital accompanist and masterclass accompanist, and as house pianist for residential events, including courses for Suzuki violinists.
Matthew was formerly Director of the Saint Martin Singers, an a capella group based at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. He has also worked with respected cellists (including Alexander Baillie and William Bruce), singing teachers and voice coaches, and operatic principals (including Chris Maltman and Quentin Hayes). He formerly directed Opera Live, including productions at Covent Garden Open Air Festival, and gave recitals as concert pianist onboard the cruiseship, QE2.
Jill Jarman
JILL JARMAN is a composer and jazz pianist, whose music reflects diverse genres, effortlessly crossing the boundaries between classical and jazz “…a joyous meeting of musical worlds” (Neil Fisher, The Times).
Jarman was mentored by acclaimed jazz vibraphonist Roger Nobes, and her 80’s jazz fusion band Storm Warning toured extensively, releasing the seminal album Spirit Level. Much of Jarman’s composition work is informed by her training and accomplished career as a jazz pianist.
Her music is performed at many renowned concert halls and festivals, including The Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Queen’s Hall (Edinburgh), the Hay Literary Festival, Nostos Festival (Athens), London Contemporary Church Music Festival (LFCCM) and Kings Place. Her works are performed by leading international musicians, such as Evelyn Glennie, Hugo Ticciati, and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, and further afield by the Greek National Opera Orchestra and the Cypriot ensemble Faos. A new disc by Chelys viol consort and the Fieri vocal Consort, (BIS Records) features Jarman’s work Now are my thoughts.
Two of her percussion pieces, New Orleans Sunrise, and Carnival, are included in the percussion syllabus for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, and her story-led work The Unicorn, commissioned by Swedish conductor David Lundblad, is for audiences of all ages wishing to learn more about the orchestra.
Jill is currently writing a double concerto series, Across the divide, bringing ‘background’ instruments forward as soloists. The first work in the series premiered in 2022 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with percussionist Evelyn Glennie, double bassist Chi-Chi Nwanoku and the Chineke! Orchestra. The second will feature harpist Catrin Finch, Evelyn Glennie, and a string quartet led by Hugo Ticciati.
Her music skills involve her in many projects such as orchestrating and conducting the Royal Philharmonic orchestra for the Royal premiered film 'The Troop', and ballet 'Rise' for BMG. Jill is the recipient of a PRS Foundation Open Fund for Music Creators award.
Further information can be found at www.jilljarman.com
YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@jj99996
Alice Hyde
ALICE HYDE was born and educated in Texas, USA where she received a Masters degree in Music. She studied singing in Italy and at the National Opera Studio in the UK, on a bursary from the Friends of Covent Garden.
Alice divides her time between performing and teaching. She has taught singing at the major stage schools in London, prestigious universities in the USA as well as various Summer schools. She teaches vocal techniques suitable for various styles of singing including classical, opera, musical theatre and jazz.
Her singing career has been varied and she has performed opera around the world and has sung for the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Performance highlights include The Countess in Marriage of Figaro at the palace of Versailles for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. Alice has worked at the Royal Opera House and has worked as a session singer for many film recordings including Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. She also had the opportunity to record some compositions by and with Dave Brubeck and his Quartet at Abby Road. Alice teaches privately in London and has produced a range of singing warm-up CDs for the male and female voice, as well for children.
Further information can be found on Alice’s website.
Angela Sleeman
ANGELA SLEEMAN Angela Sleeman teaches our Musicianship for Singers course (as well as Joining the Dots). This course is intended to build singers’ confidence in reading and interpreting musical notation. Through singing music of a variety of styles and periods an appreciation of all aspects of music relevant to choral singing can be achieved.
Her credentials include working at the Royal Opera House as repetiteur and assistant chorus master and eleven years in Germany also as repetiteur and chorus master. She is now semi retired but continues to work as a music teacher and vocal coach.