Elora Brailsford

News, Soprano
Elora Brailsford

Elora is from Newark-on-Trent and has been singing for 12 years in the choir at St. Mary Magdalene Parish Church, progressing from Chorister to Choral Scholar under the directorship of Dr. Stephen Bullamore. She has sung as a member of the Millennium Youth Choir, and has attended the annual RSCM residential course in Bath for several years.

Elora performed with Ruddington Choral Society in November 2022, singing alto in Mozart’s Vespers, and was welcomed back to sing soprano in Purcell’s “Come, Ye Sons Of Art” in May 2023. She is thrilled to have been invited to sing with Bingham and District Choral Society this autumn.

In 2022, Elora gained her RSCM Gold Award, and recently, her ARSM Diploma in singing performance. She is specialising in bass guitar in her second year at Lincoln College, studying Music Performance and Production, and is interested in pursuing a career in music.

Colin Campbell

Baritone, Soloists
Colin Campbell

Colin Campbell is an established concert soloist and has appeared throughout the UK, in Europe, the U.S.A. and the Far East, in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Tavener.

International concert performances include the arias in Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions with Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert; Christus in Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Tampere, Finland and in Beijing, China (Chinese Premiere); Bach’s B Minor Mass in Japan and Korea with Sir John Eliot Gardiner; Beethoven’s Leonore at the Lincoln Center New York, the Salzburg Festival and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, also with Sir John Eliot Gardiner; Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem in Shanghai; and Marcel Dupré’s cantata De Profundis in Munich with the Bayerische Rundfunk and Marcello Viotti;

In the UK he has appeared at the Royal Albert Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Choir of King’s College Cambridge in Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. At the Queen Elizabeth Hall Colin has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and the City of London Sinfonia in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem.  At Westminster Cathedral he has appeared with the Bach Choir and the English Chamber Orchestra in Fauré’s Requiem and has performed Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

Colin’s operatic repertoire is extensive and he has performed with Kent Opera, English Touring Opera, Welsh National Opera, Aix en Provence Festival, Bermuda Festival and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

 

Caroline Clemmow

pianist, Soloists
Caroline Clemmow

Caroline Clemmow has a rich and varied musical background. As a talented young violinist, she led the Kent County Youth Orchestra whilst still focussing mainly on her pianistic skills. She was awarded a piano scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where she won many prizes for both solo and ensemble playing. As a chamber musician she collaborated with many instrumentalists (both string and wind) and singers and became a founder member of the Hartley Piano Trio, which gained international recognition by its concert and festival appearances, broadcasts and numerous recordings, including the complete trios of Spohr on the Naxos label.
While also performing concertos and giving recitals as a soloist Caroline derives particular pleasure from the field of chamber music; she has worked with such diverse groups as Serenata, Kaleidoscope and the Koenig Ensemble, and has covered an extremely wide repertoire, ranging from the classics and romantics to complex twentieth-century works with the last-named group in a seven-city tour of the former Soviet Union, and percussion-and-piano works with Evelyn Glennie. Her many activities have led to numerous London concerts, regular broadcasts and invitations to major festivals.
An important part of her work was the celebrated piano duo with Anthony Goldstone, who died in 2017, described by Gramophone as “a dazzling husband and wife team”. They had a unique and enterprising repertoire on one and two pianos and were critically acclaimed for their pioneering broadcasts and CD recordings, the latter over forty in number, including a ground-breaking seven-CD cycle of the complete original piano duets of Schubert. Their BBC broadcasts often included first hearings of unjustly neglected works, demonstrating their painstaking research by mixing famous masterpieces and fascinating rarities, and they built up an international following.

 

Joseph Doody

Tenor
Joseph Doody

Joseph Doody is from Shipley and studied at Edinburgh University, the Royal College of Music, and the National Opera Studio. Operatic roles include Jupiter Semele, Pylade Iphigénie en Tauride, Leicester Maria Stuarda, Ramiro La Cenerentola, and Count Almaviva Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Recent concerts have included Bach’s St John Passion with both the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Hanover Band, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Southbank Sinfonia, Rossini’s Stabat Mater for Leamington Bach Choir, Britten’s orchestral song cycles Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings and Les Illuminations with Skipton Camerata, Monteverdi’s Vespers at St John’s Smith Square, and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Brighton Festival Chorus. Upcoming engagements include Britten’s St Nicholas with Teddington Choral Society, and the role of Guglielmo in Donizetti’s Viva La Diva at Buxton Opera House. As well as music, his interests include cinema, cooking, and fitness. For more, visit www.josephdoody.co.uk

Richard Dowling

Soloists, Tenor
Richard Dowling

Richard Dowling is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music’s Opera Course, where he was privileged to perform the role of Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s ‘The Rake’s Progress’ and as a soloist in the Academy’s complete Bach cantatas series. He is now supported by Opera Prelude and regularly appears in their concerts and lectures.

He sang the role of Ferrando in Mozart’s ‘Cosi fan tutte’ with West Green Opera and, working with the inspirational Graham Vick, performed the role of the Sailor in Birmingham Opera Company’s production of Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’. He has sung the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s ‘Elisir d’amore’ with Jackdaws OperaPLUS. He has been a regular with Garsington Opera and amongst other roles performed as the Glassmaker in Britten’s ‘Death in Venice’ conducted by Steuart Bedford. He also sang the role of Count Almaviva in Rossini’s ‘The Barber of Seville’ as a young artist with Mid Wales Opera.

He is also an experienced oratorio artist, engagements including Britten’s ‘Ballad of Heroes’ and Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ in the Bridgewater Hall, Finzi’s ‘Dies Natalis’ in Brentwood Cathedral, Janacek’s ‘Otcenas’ in Gorton Monastery and the ‘Messiah’ in Lincoln Cathedral.

Matthew Farrell

Counter-tenor, Soloists
Matthew Farrell


Having trained as a chorister and young songman at Leicester Cathedral, Matthew is currently singing as a Layclerk at Westminster Cathedral.

In his early stages, Matthew gained lots of solo experience. His first big solo was at the Leicester Early Music Festival in 2008, where he sang Allegri’s ‘Miserere’. With this same choir (Coro Nostro) he sang Mendelssohn’s ‘Hear My Prayer’ later that year. This solo experience has continued into his professional career, where Matthew is a sought-after soloist for Oratorio works, having performed the solos for Handel’s Messiah, Bach Passions, Purcell cantatas as well as contemporary music.

Since moving to London, Matthew has performed with many ensembles including Siglo de Oro, Vox Medicea, La Nuova Musica, The Gabrielli Consort, the Tallis Scholars, as well as many church choirs in the city. His extensive knowledge and experience in consort singing has also resulted in him performing with smaller ensembles such as the Swan Consort and Opus Anglicanum. He has also formed his own groups, Exodus and the Cavillum Consort.

Matthew is also a double bassist and viola da gamba player, most recently playing continuo for Ensemble Pro Victoria, the Platinum Consort, and with his viol consort Arculo.

Emily Hodkinson

Mezzo-Soprano, Soloists
Emily Hodkinson

Emily is a Nottingham-born mezzo-soprano. She studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on
the MMus Vocal Performance Course, studying with Clare Shearer and is supported by a
scholarship. She is the winner of the John and Barbara Beaumont Bursary and the Liz Chant
Bursary.
She holds a First Class Honours Degree in Music from the University of York and was a Fellow
of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain in 2017-18. She sang with Genesis Sixteen from
2016-17 under the direction of Harry Christophers and Eamonn Dougan.
Recent and forthcoming appearances include Elgar’s The Music Makers with Nottingham
Festival Chorus in February 2019, Sara (Tobias and the Angel, Dove) for Nottingham Cathedral
and Streetwise Opera and recitals in the Southwell Minster and the Nottingham Classics preconcert
recital. Alongside oratorio with the European Union Chamber Orchestra at St John Smith
Square and with Aldeburgh Voices at the Snape Maltings Easter Weekend.
Emily had the honour of being the first Female Alto to sing with the Men and Boys Choir at
Southwell Minster in February 2018, a landmark moment in the Minsters 900+ year history.

Carris Jones

Mezzo-Soprano, Soloists
Carris Jones

Born in Surrey but largely raised in Southeast Asia, Carris Jones studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with a DipRam, the Academy’s highest performance award.

On the operatic stage, Carris has performed and covered roles at English National Opera, Iford Arts, Garsington Opera and Bury Court Opera. Carris made her Royal Festival Hall debut as Renee in the European premiere of Shostakovich’s Orango, with Esa Pekka-Salonen and the Philharmonia.

Carris’ concert  highlights include Britten Phaedra with members of the Philharmonia, Bach Magnificat for Laurence Cummings and the English Concert, and performances of Elgar Sea Pictures and Mahler Kindertotenlieder. As a consort singer, Carris has sung across five continents. She was a founder member of Stile Antico, and collaborated with Sting on his Dowland project, Songs from the Labyrinth.

In 2017, Carris joined the Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, the first female Vicar Choral ever to be appointed.

Matthew Keighley

Soloists, Tenor
Matthew Keighley

Matthew Keighley is currently a master’s student at the Royal College of Music. He is a Soirée d’Or Scholar and working under the tutelage of Tim Evans-Jones. He is also supported by the Josephine Baker Trust. Prior to his studies at the Royal College of Music, Matthew was a Lay Clerk at Gloucester Cathedral.

Matthew is in growing demand across the UK and Ireland as a concert soloist. Recent performance highlights include Handel’s Messiah with Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum and Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D in Southwark Cathedral with London Oriana. Matthew was also recently involved in an Irish tour of Handel’s Theodora with the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Further afield, Matthew performed last summer in Corfu and Italy singing as a soloist for the Ionian University Choir.

Since starting music college in September, Matthew has been gathering experience on stage. He was delighted to be involved in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Sir Thomas Allen and looks forward to the College’s summer opera production where he has been cast as Errand Boy in Lennox Berkeley’s A Dinner Engagement.

Thomas Li

Baritone, Soloists
Thomas Li


Thomas Li is studying A-Levels at The King’s School in Grantham, including Music. He has been a member of the choir at St Mary Magdalene Church in Newark since the age of 8, where he currently holds an organ scholar post. He has performed various solos during church services, and has also sung other cameo roles, including the Youth in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and the Young St. Nicholas in Britten’s oratorio, whilst still a treble, and the baritone solo in Faure’s Requiem. He is a member of the RSCM’s Millennium Youth Choir, and he has earned the RSCM Gold Award. He is working towards his ARSM singing diploma, and he is also an accomplished pianist and jazz saxophonist. When he is not making music, Thomas enjoys hiking and outdoor activities, Explorer Scouts, playing rugby for his school, and he has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.