People

Honorary President 
 Dr John Rutter CBE

The picture shows Dr Rutter, honorary president of Choir 2000, receiving the Choir's present to him of a bound copy of his own Magnificat at part of the composers 60th birthday celebrations in 2005.  

The presentation was made on behalf of the Choir by Grayston Burgess (Musical Director), Beatrix Bown (Choir co-ordinator) and Michael Pride  (Chairman -  who also did the binding!).

John Rutter has held workshops with the Choir on his Magnificat (2001), a variety of choral music (2002) and Verdi's Requiem (2005). The Choir performed Rutter's Magnificat in 2001 and again in the 2006/07 season as well as his Mass of the Children in 2004.

(Thanks to Nick Rutter for the picture)

Musical Director
Chloë Allison

 

Appointed Autumn 2021

Following Peter Britton's decision to step down from the Choir,  we have been extremely fortunate in appointing Following the decision of Peter to step down from the Choir,  we have been extremely fortunate in appointing Chloë Allison as as as our new musical director. She brings with her a breadth of experience as a soloist, as a teacher and as a conductor.

Accompanist
Clare Selby 

Joined us in Autumn 2018.

Clare was born in Devon but attended Chetham's School of Music from the age of 11. Whilst there, she was a semi-finalist in BBC's 'Young Musician of the Year' and a prize winner in the National Amaviva Mozart Competition. She later read Music at Queens' College, Cambridge. During her time at Queens' she performed a Mozart piano concerto with the St Margaret's Society Orchestra at West Road Concert Hall.

Since graduating, Clare has been working as a piano teacher and freelance accompanist, initially in Cambridge and then in Yorkshire. She has worked with numerous choirs and choral societies, including Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Doncaster Choral Society and Sheffield Bach Choir.

Performances include Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and Britten's St Nicolas. Recenty she was involved in rehearsals for a recording of Phillip Wilby's 'The Holy Face'. She returned to Cambridge in July 2017. 

Honorary Patron
Peter Britton 

Musical director 2007-2021.

After attending the Cathedral Choir school at Canterbury and Repton school, Peter studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he held a Music Exhibition. He then lectured in music at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University), being promoted to Head of Music in 1995. From 1997 to 2003, he was manager of the Cambridgeshire Music Service (CIMA), organising music tuition and ensembles for schools, and directing courses with the Cambridge Holiday Orchestra over many years. In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Director of Music at Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

 

He now combines his academic career with freelance work as a piano teacher, and performance as accompanist, percussionist and conductor. He has conducted the Sinfonia of Cambridge, the Cambridge Sinfonietta, the Cambridge Graduate Orchestra, the City of Ely Sinfonia, and many other local ensembles, with repertoire from all periods, including productions of Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Peter Grimes and The Rake's Progress. Choral works he has directed include Bach's Mass in B minor, Handel's Israel in Egypt, Stravinsky's Les Noces and Steve Reich's Desert Music. In February 2008 he conducted the Norwich Philharmonic in Mahler's 5th Symphony.

Honorary Conductor and Accompanist
David Warham

David was our regular rehearsal pianist and occasional conductor for Choir 2000. He stepped down from those role(s) in 2018 but has periodically returned to us to direct a few rehearsals in Peter Britton's absence. 

 

He studied Music and Education at Bretton Hall College of Education, organ at Dartington College of Arts in Devon and completed a Master’s research degree, in Jazz in Education, at the University of East Anglia. He was Head of Music at Impington Village College, teaching examination level music (A-level, GCSE and International Baccalaureate) and A-level Performing Arts. Whilst there, he conducted many shows and orchestral and choral concerts. David was organist and choirmaster at All Saints Church, Cottenham and until 2009 conducted the Cottenham Singers. His repertoire includes Orff’s Carmina Burana, Rachmaninov’s Vespers, Bach’s Mass in B-minor and, of course, Handel’s Messiah. Since his retirement David has been busier than ever. Recent performances include Will Todd's Mass in Blue for choir, soprano soloist and big band; the complete Messiah; Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Berlioz Nuits d’été, a concert of 17th century Italian and Spanish vocal and instrumental music, organ and piano recitals and various jazz gigs. He wrote a fanfare for the International Staff band of the Salvation Army and is the present Waitmaster of City of Ely Waits (performing as costumed musicians of 1650) playing sackbut and crumhorn.

Founding Musical Director
Honorary Patron
Grayston Burgess

d. 2019

 

The Choir's founding Musical Director was Grayston Burgess.

 

Grayston - like Peter Britton, a Canterbury Chorister, and then a Cambridge man (but in his case a King's man) - had a distinguished career as a counter-tenor in the Fifties and Sixties, during which he led the Purcell Consort of Voices, whose recordings of Renaissance music became a benchmark for the highest standards of their generation. 

 

After 'retiring' to Histon, he soon found himself involved in musical events, becoming the Musical Director of Choir 2000, retiring again at the end of the 2006-07 season. 

 

 

Choir Organiser
Beatrix Bown

 

On March 28th 2009, at an event hosted by stART, in partnership with South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC), Beatrix Bown, the choir Organiser, was presented with an award by SCDC chairman, Cllr Jim Stewart for her achievement in setting up and organising Choir 2000.

 

Congratulations to Beatrix for this well-deserved recognition

Guest Conductor
Timothy Carney

 

Tim is Associate Professor of Music at Chaminade University of Honolulu, teaching music history and music theory. He conducts the Chaminade Chorus and the annual spring musical. He's also taught at St Olaf College, Ripon College, University of Illinois and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

 

He's led choruses across the USA, in France, England, Australia and New Zealand; and is the founding Music Director of Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble. He has led the first Hawaii performances of many choral masterworks, including Schumann's Paradise and the Peri, Suter's Le Laudi di San Francesco d'Assisi, Olsson's Te Deum, Vaughan-Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem.

 

He has prepared choruses for Robert Shaw, Robert Page and Josepg Flummerfelt and has led performances of Haydn's Creation, the Requiems of Brahms, Verdi, Cherubini,Faure and Duruffle as well as Mendelssohn's Elijah and many other masterworks.

 

In March 2014 he conducted Choir 2000's performance of Bach's St John Passion  and returned to jointly direct  Suter's  'Le Laudi' in June 2018.

We need your consent to load the translations

We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details and accept the service to view the translations.