MEET OUR CONDUCTORS

Dan enjoys a busy schedule as a conductor, chorus master and singing teacher in London. He directs a wide variety of choirs from professional ensembles, church choirs, chamber choirs and large symphonic choruses. He performs regularly in major concert venues across the country.
In London, Dan has conducted many large-scale performances for massed choirs and orchestra, including Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem, Bach’s B Minor Mass and Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor at the Southbank Centre, Verdi’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Fairfield Halls, Croydon and Carmina Burana at Cadogan Hall. He has conducted numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the London Mozart Players, His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts, The Forest Philharmonic and The London Orchestra da Camera.

In 2012 Dan worked as a choirmaster on BBC2’s The Choir: Sing While You Work, subsequently becoming Artistic Director of the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, enjoying success as the co-producer and musical director for the Choir’s 2015 Christmas number one Bridge Over You. He returned in 2013 to work on the second series of the programme, this time with Citibank Choir with whom he has continued as Musical Director; highlights include performing at the Hammersmith Apollo and a series of concerts in New York. In 2015 Dan also worked behind the scenes as choirmaster for The Choir: Gareth Malone’s Great Choir Reunion.

At the 2013 BBC Proms, Dan was the chorus master for the Choir of the Age of Enlightenment, preparing them to sing Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, before returning in 2015 for Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody and Triumphlied, both conducted by Marin Alsop. In 2018, Dan returned to assist Marin, preparing the same choir and orchestra for two more performances of Brahms’ Requiem, the second of which took place at the Royal Festival Hall and was subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Dan enjoyed a return to his role as chorus master for the Choir and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the 2022 BBC Proms, preparing the choir for their performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass conducted by John Butt.

Dan is in demand as a singing teacher and is the Head of Vocal Studies at Dulwich College. For over a decade he has taught and given master classes on the Rodolfus Foundation Choral Courses (formerly Eton Choral Courses) and makes regular visits to the University of Durham, giving conducting and vocal master classes. He is the Musical Director of The Hackney Singers, and Musical Director of Lewisham Choral Society.

Dan joined the NCCGB staff in 2012, since when he has conducted both the Senior Choir and the Tour Choirs. In September 2018, Dan was delighted to take up the post of Musical Director of the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain.

Rachel is currently the Head of Junior Music at The Maynard School, Exeter. Prior to this appointment in 2016, she was the Assistant Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral School, during which time she founded the Devon County Junior Choir in 2007 which was followed, in 2012, by the formation of Schola Exe, the County Senior Choir. She continued to conduct both choirs until 2021.
Rachel has been the MD of the Chivenor Military Ladies (formerly Wives) Choir since September 2012. In that capacity she has conducted the choir around the country, including at the Royal Albert Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral, Downing Street and Buxton Opera House. The choir has also performed at the Menin Gate, Ypres, at various sites around Normandy and in Spain. Rachel has also been the MD for the Lympstone Military Wives Choir since 2013.
When Rachel is not musically busy, she enjoys running, cycling, patchworking and spending time with her family and 4 cats!

Passionate about the arts and choral education, Suzzie’s high-energy vocal workshops have gained her an international reputation as a vocal leader, working with singers of all ages around the world. In demand as a chorus master, choral director and voice coach, she directs and sings with the critically acclaimed female a cappella quintet Papagena, conducts the National Children’s Choir, Orchestra of the Swan Chamber Choir and Ex Cathedra Vocal Academy. Collaborations have seen her leading workshops for: the London Symphony Orchestra, Stagecoach, The Stay at Home Choir, Sing for Pleasure, ABCD and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.

Suzzie is Associate Artist at the University of Warwick, Vocal Coach for the CBSO Youth Chorus, Singing Teacher at the University of Birmingham, Schools Programme Leader for Music of Life Foundation working with children with disabilities, and a vocal tutor for Ex Cathedra Education, regularly contributing her own compositions to their set of music education resources, “SingMaker”.

Her career as a soprano has taken her around the world, performing and recording with some of the top UK vocal ensembles, and her warm up book ‘How to Make Your Choir Sound Awesome’, written with Lucy Hollins, was published by Banks Music Publications in 2022.

A choral director and vocal leader, Stuart Overington is known for his energetic and engaging approach to training young voices. He took up the role of Green choir director in January 2019. He is also Director of the Hallé Youth Choirs in Manchester, Chetham’s School of Music Chamber Choir and the Royal Northern College of Music’s Symphony Chorus and Chamber Choir.

Stuart studied at the Royal Northern College of Music as both a singer and conductor. Whilst there, he performed in operas and concerts including roles in their production of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse and as the lead character ‘Bobby’ in Sondheim’s Company. He has performed as soloist with the RNCM Big Band and Symphony Orchestra and appeared at festivals including the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and London Jazz Festival. As a freelance artist, he has worked for numerous creative organisations including the BBC, Manchester International Festival, Royal Exchange Theatre, Opera North and The Royal Opera House.

Stuart has also had a number of songs commissioned for school singing with many being published in the Boosey & Hawkes bestselling series Singing Sherlock.