TOM WILLIAMS - MUSICAL DIRECTOR

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Tom is currently Director of Music at St Matthew’s, Kensington Olympia, where he leads the newly established Music Foundation. He was for six years the Choral Director at St Martin-in-the-Fields where he directed the renowned church choir in services, concerts, on CD recordings and radio broadcasts, and on several international tours including visits to Paris and Johannesburg.

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In 2012, Tom founded award-winning chamber choir, The Erebus Ensemble, with whom he has appeared on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and Scala Radio, and in concerts across the UK and Europe. The group was Ensemble-in-Residence at the Bristol Proms (Bristol Old Vic Theatre) and a prize winner at the inaugural London International Acappella Choir Competition at St John’s Smith Square. It enjoys a longstanding relationship with Harry Bicket and the English Concert and has appeared as the orchestra’s choral arm for performances at the Bridgewater Hall, Bath Abbey, Saffron Hall, Bristol Old Vic Theatre and at the Lausanne Festival in Switzerland. Erebus and the English Concert collaborated on a staged version of Handel’s Messiah (directed by Tom Morris), which was broadcast across eighty cinemas in the UK and Ireland. The Erebus Ensemble has produced two recordings and is currently working on a third album which will be released in celebration of its tenth anniversary in 2022.

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Tom is well known for his work with amateur singers and he currently conducts two choral societies: Nailsea Choral Society and the West Barnes Singers. He is in much demand as a choral workshop leader and gives frequent workshops and masterclasses in London and Bristol. He has also led workshops further afield, most recently in Brittany and Amsterdam. He enjoys giving talks on various aspects of choral music and has done so on topics ranging from Allegory in the Eton Choirbook, music of the Reformation and Counter Reformation, and on the Tintinnabuli style of Arvo Pärt. In 2013 Tom co-founded the Clifton International Festival of Music, of which he is Artistic Director. It has become a firm favourite in the classical music calendar of Bristol and the surrounding areas, and has played host to the many household names in the music industry including The Tallis Scholars, The King’s Singers, I Fagiolini, The Sixteen, Dame Gillian Weir and Crispian Steele-Perkins

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JAMES FURNISS-ROE - ACCOMPANIST

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James Furniss-Roe started as a boy chorister at Rochester Cathedral from 2004-2009. From there, James gained an interest in learning the organ, and proceeding his choristership began organ lessons at the Cathedral until he was 18. James graduated from Royal Holloway, holding the post of Organ Scholar during his undergraduate degree in Music. During his time at Royal Holloway, he performed at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral, as well as numerous playing appearances on BBC Radio 3's Choral Evensong and BBC Radio 4 broadcasts. Following university, James was Graduate Organist at King Edward’s School Witley, Organ Scholar at Portsmouth Cathedral and Southwell Minster. Following these posts, James moved back down to London where he was Director of Music at St. Peter’s, Streatham from 2021-2023. In that time, James made a switch in career paths, combining music with a full-time post as an Estate Agent for a local, independent agency in Ealing and Acton. In May 2024, James was appointed Assistant Director of Music at St. Matthew’s Kensington Olympia, assisting Tom Williams with the leading of worship and music there.

 

James has been very fortunate to have toured internationally, most notably USA, France, Belgium, Holland and Austria. He has given recitals at Rochester, Bristol and Portsmouth Cathedrals, Southwell Minster and St Bride's Fleet Street, London. James has also appeared on multiple CDs, during his time as a chorister at Rochester Cathedral and later at Royal Holloway.

 

James has been the accompanist for West Barnes Singers since September 2024, a post he very much enjoys!

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