We have been extremely fortunate in working with some incredible conductors over the years. Initially the choir was conducted by Adrian Inscoe, with Ashley Stafford taking over as principal conductor in 1995.
In 1998 we recruited Jonathan (Jonny) Leonard as our principal conductor. Jonny was well known as music director at St Luke’s, Chelsea and conducted over 70 performances with us until his untimely death in 2009. Highlights with Jonny were our performances of the St John Passion with James Gilchrist as Evangelist, a stunning Bach B Minor Mass with a stellar set of soloists and instrumentalists, and evocative performances of Rachmaninov Vespers.
We have been very fortunate to have Sarah Tenant-Flowers as our principal conductor from 2010 until 2022. Her programming is always innovative and exciting and she has drawn the best from us, focusing on a warm homogenous sound. Sarah directs a versatile array of professional and amateur choral ensembles both in the UK and abroad and we have benefitted from this experience. In over 30 performances we have covered a wealth of music, including a brilliant performance of the Messiah in Northleach with the Adderbury Ensemble in 2018.
Guest conductors have included David Bednall, Alex Berry, James Brown, Bob Chilcott, James Gilchrist, Mark Hindley, Peter Hunt, Jeremy Jackman, Mark Jordan, Alastair Ross, Kevin Stannard and Sebastian Thomson. Our most recent concert was conducted by our long-standing main accompanist Bernard West.