Rufus Frowde - our new Artistic Director.

 

Rufus said:   "I am thrilled to have been appointed to lead The English Chamber Choir in its next chapter. My father appeared as a violinist with the choir in many of their collaborations with Rick Wakeman - as such, recordings of the choir were a fond part of the soundtrack of my childhood.

 

"There are very few choirs that can tackle the range of repertoire that has become the hallmark of ECC. I look forward to nurturing Guy and Ann’s remarkable legacy, as well as exploring new opportunities, ensuring that this family of excellent singers maintains an enviable reputation for adventurous programming, consistently performed with professionalism."

 

A freelance conductor, organist, pianist and composer, Rufus was Organist and Assistant Director at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace from 2003 – 2023. He holds many varied conducting posts including VIVAMUS Chamber Choir, Dacorum Community Choir (founder), and orchestral work for Hertfordshire Music Service (where he has been the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Schools’ Galas at the Royal Albert Hall since 2014). He is also the Accompanist of Hertfordshire Chorus.

 

Rufus studied music as an Organ Scholar at Merton College, Oxford University. He subsequently became Organ Scholar of Worcester Cathedral and undertook prize-winning postgraduate study in Choral Direction and Church Music at the Royal Academy of Music.

 

Rufus has always maintained a versatile approach to music-making, both in terms of genre and with the musicians with whom he works, seeking to ensure that barriers to quality music-making are overcome. As such, alongside his work as a performer with professional musicians, he leads the music curriculum at his local primary school as well as working as an animateur for the Chorister Outreach Project at St Albans Cathedral.

 

Performances have included numerous UK cathedrals, Westminster Abbey, La Madeleine (Paris), Kaunas Cathedral, St Thomas’s Leipzig, St Paul’s Basilica (Rome), Cologne Cathedral, Haarlem Cathedral and Longwood Gardens (Pennsylvania). He has worked with musicians and performers including Emma Johnson, Crispian Steele Perkins, Kiri te Kanawa, José Carreras, Ian McMillan and Michael Rosen. He works with numerous orchestras as a guest conductor and has conducted The Hanover Band, Brandenburg Sinfonia, Southbank Sinfonia and the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists in collaboration with his choirs.

 

He appears as a conductor, organist and composer on the Signum Classics, Resonus Classics, and Divine Art record labels.

 

Rufus took over as Artistic Director from Guy Protheroe at the beginning of 2024, when Guy became Conductor Emeritus

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