The choir is led by three talented conductors and singers, which spreads the load and keeps things fresh!
Richard Bruce
Richard studied music at Durham University and went on to complete a PhD (also at Durham) on Franz Schubert’s music for the theatre. He has sung in a range of chamber choirs around the North East of England and has developed a love for choral conducting, supported by workshops and masterclasses run by the Association of British Choral Directors. He has directed the Dentdale Choir, has co-directed Northern Spirit Singers for several years and now runs the Durham University Staff Chamber Choir. He studies piano with David Murray and recently completed his DipABRSM and LRSM.
Richard is also a trustee of the Durham Music Trust, the fundraising arm of Durham Music Service, which works to deliver opportunities across the region to young musicians learning in schools and performing in free ensembles.
Katherine Hambridge
Formerly an organ scholar at Worcester Cathedral and Girton College, Cambridge, Katherine trained and performed as an organist, choral conductor and singer for many years, ultimately focusing on conducting and singing. At Cambridge, where she studied music for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, she had many opportunities to perform in East Anglia, with consorts and as a soprano soloist across a range of oratorio and operatic repertoire, including a live solo broadcast on Radio 3’s In Tune programme with the Caius Consort. As an organist, she gave recitals across the UK, including at Westminster Abbey, and toured internationally with Girton College Choir.
Since arriving in the North East, Katherine has conducted the Durham University Choral Society and examines conducting for the Music Department. For her day job, she works as an Associate Professor of Music History at Durham University, specialising in German and French musical culture and thought in the nineteenth century.
Clare Lawrence-Wills
Clare Lawrence-Wills studied at the Purcell School of music as an oboist, as well as the Junior Royal Academy and National Youth Orchestra. She studied music at Cambridge University, where she was both a choral scholar at Pembroke College and an instrumental award holder. Having gained a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, she completed her postgraduate diploma in performance on the oboe, and went on to play cor anglais professionally with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Santiago in Chile. She then trained as a music teacher, completing her PGCE at Durham University, during which time she was a choral scholar at University College, Durham. She teaches music at Durham Johnston Comprehensive School.
Since becoming a teacher Clare has developed a love of directing music ensembles. She has undertaken training with the Association of British Choral Directors as well as studying with Simon Carrington and Brian O’Connell in Sarteano. She has directed the Durham University Choral Society and the Teesside Apollo Male Voice Choir, and has guest-directed a range of local chamber choirs. She has also been the musical director for multiple productions at the Gala Theatre with Durham High School, including the recent productions of The School of Rock and Evita. While working at Egglescliffe School, Clare directed the choir, who, following their success in the national rounds of the Music for Youth Festival, were invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall for the MFY Proms.
