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Musical Director-Neville Ward |
Neville Ward received his musical education at the Royal
Academy of Music, where he studied clarinet and bassoon. He then taught
in Halifax, where he developed his interest in conducting. From 1969 to
2001, Neville was Head of Music at Toot Hill School, Bingham. He has been
conductor of Bingham and District Choral Society since its inception in
1972, chorus master of Scunthorpe
and District Choral Society since 1981, and conductor of Ruddington
and District Choral Society from 1984 to 1995, as well as conducting the
Rushcliffe Chamber Orchestra. He has conducted many concerts with professional orchestras,
including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the English Sinfonia,
the City of London Sinfonia and the East of England Orchestra. Neville
has worked with leading vocal and instrumental soloists, and has trained
choirs for performances with professional conductors including James Loughran,
John Lubbock, David Lloyd-Jones and Clive Timms. He has also conducted
the Band of the Irish Guards, and the Cory Band at its Centenary Concert
in St David's Hall, Cardiff, in 1984. Roger was born in Cheshire and was educated at the Manchester
Grammar School, where he was School Organist. He studied organ with Jonathan
Bielby at Manchester Cathedral before going to Trinity Hall, Cambridge
as Organ Scholar in 1970 to read music. After a postgraduate course at
Cambridge, he returned to Manchester for a further period of advanced
study at the Royal Northern College of Music, and received organ tuition
from Gillian Weir, Lionel Rogg and Flor Peters, before taking up the post
of Assistant Organist at Lincoln Cathedral in 1975. Roger has performed recitals at cathedrals, universities,
colleges and major churches both in this country and abroad. He undertook
several European tours with Lincoln Cathedral Choir, both as organist
and director, to countries including France, Germany and Norway. He also
made a large number of recordings with the choir as conductor, soloist
and accompanist, in addition to regular broadcasts from the Cathedral
with them. Roger was appointed as Master of the Song School at Newark
Parish Church in July 1992, where he is responsible for the maintenance
of the pre-Reformation Choral Foundation - a musical tradition unique
in England outside the major cathedral and collegiate foundations. Beyond
his commitments and engagements as a professional organist, Roger has
a reputation as a choir-trainer, conductor and teacher, with several of
his students winning Organ Scholarships and other musical distinctions
to Oxford, Cambridge and elsewhere. Roger has a special interest in working with choirs in both
sacred and secular repertoire. For several years he was Musical Director
of the Lincoln Chorale, Lincolnshire's well-established chamber choir.
The Chorale gave concerts throughout the region and in Holland and Germany
under his direction. In its regular series of concerts at Lincoln Cathedral,
the choir also performed under his baton with many professional artists
and orchestras.
Accompanist & Associate Conductor - Roger Bryan
Committee Members
Page last updated 5 July 2009