Our leadership

Musical Leaders

We’ve maintained a reputation for musical excellence since 1876 through an illustrious list of Musical Directors which includes Vaughan Williams amongst many others. Under our current Musical Director David Hill MBE’s leadership we have toured numerous countries, performed with some of the best orchestras in the world and garnered considerable critical success. Read more about David and our current musical team below.

David Hill MBE

Musical Director

Renowned for his fine musicianship, David Hill is widely respected as both a choral and orchestral conductor. His talent has been recognised by his appointments as Musical Director of The Bach Choir, Music Director of Leeds Philharmonic Society, Associate Guest conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum, and International Chair in Choral Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music. He was Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007 to September 2017 and is a former Music Director of Southern Sinfonia.

Born in Carlisle and educated at Chetham’s School of Music, of which he is now a Governor, he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the remarkably young age of 17. Having been Organ Scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, David Hill returned to hold the post of Director of Music from 2004-2007. His other appointments have included Master of the Music at Winchester Cathedral, Master of the Music at Westminster Cathedral and Artistic Director of the Philharmonia Chorus. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Southampton for Services to Music, and in March 2018, he was honoured with the prestigious Royal College of Organists medal, in recognition of distinguished achievement in choral conducting and organ playing.

David Hill has a broad-ranging discography covering repertoire from Thomas Tallis to a number of world premiere recordings. As well as achieving prestigious Grammy and Gramophone Awards, many of his discs have been recommended as Critic’s Choices, with his ongoing series of English choral music for Naxos, and discs for Hyperion with the Yale Schola Cantorum receiving particular acclaim.

Hill has appeared with the BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic orchestras, London Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera, the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North, Ulster Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Réal Filharmonia de Galicia, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, and Portland Baroque Orchestras as well as the Netherlands Radio Choir, the National Youth Choir of Australia, and RIAS Chamber Choir, Berlin.

His commitment to new music has led to him premiering works from leading composers including Judith Bingham, Carl Rütti, Francis Pott, Bob Chilcott, Gabriel Jackson, James Macmillan, Philip Moore, Naji Hakim, Sir John Tavener, Philip Wilby and Jonathan Dove. Recent highlights include the world premiere of Gabriel Jackson’s The World Imagined with the Philharmonia at Three Choirs Festival. In January 2019 David Hill was awarded an MBE for services to music.

Sir John Rutter

President

John Rutter was born in London and studied music at Clare College, Cambridge. He first came to notice as a composer during his student years; much of his early work consisted of church music and other choral pieces including Christmas carols. From 1975–79 he was Director of Music at his alma mater, Clare College, and directed the college chapel choir in various recordings and broadcasts. Since 1979 he has divided his time between composition and conducting.

Today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world. His music has featured in a number of British royal occasions, including the two most recent royal weddings. He edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir the Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings, and he appears regularly in several countries as guest conductor and choral ambassador. He holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and in 2007 was awarded a CBE for services to music. In September 2023, he received the Ivors Academy Fellowship, joining a prestigious list of 24 Fellows including John Adams, Pierre Boulez CBE, Kate Bush CBE and Sir Elton John. He was knighted in 2024.

Mark Austin

Associate Accompanist / Conductor

Finalist in the Chicago Symphony Solti Conducting Competition, Mark Austin is energised by an extraordinary versatility as conductor, pianist and independent scholar. He performs at the highest level across operatic, orchestral and choral repertoire. In 2019 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Mark recently made his debut at the Royal Opera and has conducted orchestras including Aurora, Britten Sinfonia, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Garsington Opera, London Philharmonic and Orchestre de chambre de Paris. He is Artistic Director of Faust Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has appeared at venues including Kings Place, LSO St Luke’s, West Road Concert Hall, Hatfield House and the London Design Museum. 

Mark is delighted to work regularly with The Bach Choir and David Hill as assistant conductor and accompanist. He recently conducted the choir in a new recording of music by Joe Hisaishi for Deutsche Grammophon. In 2021 he conceived and produced a recording Bach Inspired featuring six new works written in response to chorales from Bach’s St Matthew Passion, which received a 4-star review from BBC Music Magazine.

As pianist Mark has performed at venues including Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St John’s Smith Square, Holywell Music Room, Opera Bastille (Paris), Conservatoire Serge Rachmaninoff (Paris), and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre. His debut album of English Song with mezzo-soprano Anna Harvey was released in June 2022 on the Rubicon Classics label.

Born in London, Mark had lessons in violin and piano from an early age. He played in the National Youth Orchestra and studied at Cambridge University and Royal Academy of Music, where he was appointed a Junior Fellow. As an independent scholar Mark has published on Wagner, Beethoven and Faust and recently delivered a lecture to the English Goethe Society on ‘Strauss and Goethe’. Forthcoming publications include a chapter on ‘Goethe and the Musical World’ (Cambridge University Press) and articles on Strauss’ Metamorphosen and Mozart’s Mitridate.

Philip Scriven

Accompanist / Assistant Conductor

Philip Scriven is widely regarded as one of the finest organists of his generation, and is highly respected as a choral, orchestral and operatic conductor. He is currently Organist-in-Residence at Cranleigh School, co-founder and Principal Conductor of the Darwin Ensemble Chamber Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor and Accompanist of the world-renowned Bach Choir, combining these posts with a freelance recital career which takes him all over the world. He regularly works with the top London orchestras, and has also conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in concert.

He has made numerous recordings including works such as Holst’s The Planets which he has transcribed for the organ. His CD Piping Hot was praised in Gramophone magazine for ‘the outstanding quality of his playing … good-humoured and sparkling … a joy to listen to’.

From 2002-10 Philip was Organist and Master of the Choristers at Lichfield Cathedral and Musical Director of the Lichfield Cathedral Chorus, having held previous positions at Westminster Abbey, St. George’s Chapel Windsor Castle, St. John’s College Cambridge and Winchester Cathedral. 

Vice Presidents

Vice Presidents support The Bach Choir by attending concerts and other special events, and promoting the Choir in their musical networks.

Dame Janet Baker CH, DBE, FRSA

Janet Baker’s first appearance as a soloist with The Bach Choir was in 1960, in a programme which paired the Mozart Requiem with Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast and was notable in being the first conducted by the Choir’s then Musical Director, David Willcocks. She was soon to become a regular soloist at Bach Choir concerts, particularly the Choir’s annual St Matthew Passion performances. She became a Vice President of The Bach Choir in 1983.

Best known for her performances of British music, especially that of her compatriot Benjamin Britten, Janet Baker was also a fine performer of art song, sacred music, and Classical and pre-Classical opera. Her repertoire, as well as her background, frequently overlapped that of her great predecessor Kathleen Ferrier, and her performances in Britain and abroad led to international renown.

In 1956, Janet Baker won second prize in the Kathleen Ferrier Competition and in 1962 she first sang with the English Opera Group, as Polly in Benjamin Britten’s famous production of The Beggar’s Opera at Aldeburgh.

As her operatic career progressed, Janet Baker focused on pre-Classical and Classical works whilst also performing Romantic and twentieth-century roles. Much of her recital repertoire was drawn from the works of Fauré, Schumann, Schubert, Duparc, Haydn, and Mahler, and the British masters such as Purcell and Elgar; however, she also took special pleasure in bringing the works of lesser-known composers to public attention. In 1982, she gave her farewell performances as Orfeo in London and at Glyndebourne.

Dame Felicity Lott DBE, FRAM, FRCM

Dame Felicity Lott DBE CBE performed as a soloist with The Bach Choir on many occasions, notably in the Choir’s annual St Matthew Passion concerts. Her final appearance with the Choir was in 1998, when Sir David Willcocks conducted his last St Matthew Passion after 38 years as Musical Director.  She became a Vice President in 2006.

Felicity was born in Cheltenham. She was educated at Pate’s Grammar School for Girls, read French and Latin at Royal Holloway, University of London, and then won a scholarship to study singing at the Royal Academy of Music. She made her début at English National Opera in 1975 and has sung the great Mozart and Strauss roles at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, in Munich, Vienna, New York, Chicago and in Paris at the Opéra Bastille, Opéra Comique, Palais Garnier and Châtelet, where she has also appeared in operettas by Lehár and Offenbach.

She has sung with the world’s major orchestras and conductors, has toured the world giving song recitals, and made numerous recordings.

She holds Honorary Doctorates from many universities including Oxford, London, and the Sorbonne in Paris, and is a Fellow of Royal Holloway, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. She is a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur and an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She is also a Bavarian Kammersängerin and was awarded the Wigmore Medal in 2010.

Sam Gordon Clark CBE HON FRAM

Singing has been part of Sam Gordon Clark’s life since his early youth. Born in 1943, he was educated at Winchester College, where the legendary Julian Smith inspired his vocal career. He later read French Language and Civilisation at Lyons University. His working life was mainly spent in the wine trade, although he moved ultimately into arts management. 

He was auditioned for The Bach Choir by Sir David Willcocks in 1973, and joined as a second bass. He served as a trustee of the Choir from 1979 to 1985, and again, as chairman, from 2007 to 2013, when he retired after forty years as a singing member. Among his most memorable concerts, he remembers with pride singing the B Minor Mass and Messiah on, respectively, the 300th birthdays of J. S. Bach and Handel in 1985.

Outside appointments included serving on the Governing Body of the Royal Academy of Music from 1980 to 1999. He was chairman of the Early Opera Company from 2002 to 2007, and for twenty-nine years chaired the trustees of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, and their charity Adopt-a-School, dedicated to improving nutrition in primary schools.

Sam was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music in 1991, and a CBE in the 2011 New Year’s honours. He was appointed a Vice-President of The Bach Choir on his retirement from the chair in 2013, and in 2018 became President of the 1876 Society, the Choir’s legacy campaign.

Roderick Williams OBE

Roderick Williams is one of the most sought after baritones of his generation with a wide repertoire spanning baroque to contemporary which he performs in opera, concert and recital.

He enjoys relationships with all the major UK opera houses and has sung opera world premières by David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michel van der Aa, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel as well as performing major roles including Papageno, Don Alfonso, Onegin and Billy Budd. He performs regularly with leading conductors and orchestras throughout the UK, Europe, North America and Australia, and his many festival appearances include the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh and Melbourne.

As a composer he has had works premièred at Wigmore Hall, the Barbican, the Purcell Room and on national radio. In December 2016 he won the prize for Best Choral Composition at the British Composer Awards. From 2022/23 season he takes the position of Composer in Association of the BBC Singers.

Roderick Williams was awarded an OBE in June 2017 and was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Opera in both the 2018 Olivier Awards for his performance in the title role of the Royal Opera House production of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and in 2019 for his role in ENO’s production of Britten’s War Requiem. He was Artist in Residence with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 2020/21 for two years.

Harry Gregson-Williams

Harry Gregson-Williams is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after and prolific composers whose long list of film and television credits underscore the diverse range of his talents. He has received the BMI Icon Award in recognition of his unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers, and was awarded the prestigious Ambassador Award by the Society of Composers & Lyricists. Born in England to a musical family, he earned a choral scholarship to St. John’s College, Cambridge, at the age of 7 and later gained a coveted spot at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama, from which he received an honorary fellowship. He most recently wrote the music for Ridley Scott’s feature film “Gladiator II” being released in November 2024.  Gregson-Williams was the composer on all four instalments of the animated blockbuster “Shrek” franchise, garnering a BAFTA Award nomination for the score for the Oscar-winning “Shrek.”  He also received Golden Globe and Grammy Award nominations for his score for Andrew Adamson’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.” He has collaborated multiple times with a number of directors, including Ben Affleck on the films “Live by Night,” “The Town” and “Gone Baby Gone”; Tony Scott on “Unstoppable, “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” “Déjà Vu,” “Domino,” “Man on Fire,” “Spy Game” and “Enemy of the State”; Ridley Scott on “The Martian,” “Kingdom of Heaven” “The Last Duel,” “House of Gucci” and the upcoming “Gladiator II”; Andrew Adamson on the Shrek series, the first two Narnia movies and “Mr. Pip”; and Antoine Fuqua on “The Replacement Killers,” “The Equalizer” and “The Equalizer 2.”  Other recent credits include Disney’s live-action feature film “Mulan,” “The Meg,” “Early Man” (Annie nominated) and “Penguins.”  His television credits include “Return to Space” and “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams” both of which he was Emmy nominated, as well as “Catch-22” and most recently “The Gilded Age” both with his brother Rupert Gregson-Williams.

Image by Johnny Greig

Board of Trustees

As a registered charity, our Board of Trustees is our governing body. Members come from a wide range of professions and are ultimately responsible for everything we do.

Melanie Marshall

External Trustee

Melanie Marshall has forged a distinguished career in performance and education. As a mezzo-soprano, she was awarded a Foundation Scholarship to study Singing and Piano at the Royal College of Music from 1980 to 1985 and has enjoyed over 40 years as a singer and actress in many theatrical productions including Jane Eyre, Fela!, Only Fools and Horses: The Musical, Guys and Dolls and Porgy and Bess. 

She has also premiered three works specially composed by The Bach Choir’s President, Sir John Rutter – Feel the Spirit and Distant Land at Carnegie Hall, and Make Me a World at St Paul’s Cathedral for his 80th birthday, which The Bach Choir also sang at. In addition to this, Melanie has performed as a soloist with all BBC orchestras and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Alongside her performance career, she teaches singing at RADA, works as a film session singer and has also appeared in a wide variety of television shows, films and commercials as an actor. She joined The Bach Choir’s board as an External Trustee in January 2026. When not making music, her interests include upholstery and baking.

Naomi Taylor

Naomi is Founder and Creative Director of Chiltern Arts, where she leads a small team of professionals and volunteers in presenting an annual festival, and running an outreach programme, ‘ListenUp’, with its mission of ‘inspiring a new generation of audiences’.
Naomi graduated from the University of York with a First Class degree in Music in 2014, where voice was her first instrument and she sang in as many choirs as time allowed! Naomi joined the Bach Choir in 2022, and loves the variety of opportunities available to singing members through the year — although the annual St Matthew Passion will always be her highlight!
Naomi is currently a PhD candidate at Birmingham City University, where she is working with the British Arts Festivals Association on the project ‘The UK Arts Festival inside and out: understanding its people, purpose and place’.
Aside from music, Naomi loves to bake (with and without her two children), walk and write poetry.

Laura Plumptre

Laura Plumptre learnt to sing from a very young age and learnt to play the piano, recorder and the violin at school in London. After studying at both Dundee & Aberdeen Universities where she sang in two small chamber choirs – she was a Hesse Scholar in 1994 at the Aldeburgh Music Festival. Laura was pleased to join The Bach Choir in 1995 under Sir David Willcocks straight after graduating. Her father still sings in the tenor section of the choir.

She became a Chartered Surveyor in London but moved to East Kent initially to support her husband and late parents in-law with running events at Goodnestone Park Gardens. Laura is now involved numerous charities and organises events for them both locally and further afield. She believes passionately in the power of music to unite people and still acts as Social Secretary for The Bach Choir running their twice yearly members parties.

Julien Allen

A solicitor by profession as well as a part time film critic and essayist, Julien joined the Choir in 2016. As a partner and head of London Real Estate at Trowers & Hamlins LLP, Julien brings his legal and business development experience to the Board. He was also a member of the creative group responsible for the special performances of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky in 2018 (with David Bamber) and the signed Beethoven Missa Solemnis in 2019 (with Richard Stilgoe).

Julien played the violin from a young age and was a choral scholar at Clayesmore School from 1982- 87. He sang under Jonathan Willcocks at Bedales School and aside from Bach, is especially fond of Renaissance choral music (Victoria, Palestrina, Tallis) and 20th century English composers such as Britten, Vaughan Williams and Howells. Aside from his lifelong interest in cinema, Julien is a keen cricketer and founded Arkadin Cricket Club in 2008. Being half French, he is an enthusiastic cook and a passionate fan of the French rugby team. He also enjoys golf and skiing.

Alex Churchill

Vice Chair

Alex Churchill is a Senior Civil Servant in the Department of Health & Social Care, having previously worked in the Government Office for Science, including running SAGE meetings for the COVID-19 response, and before that in the Ministry of Defence in various roles.

Alex is passionate about singing but also plays the classical guitar to Grade 8, although this is mainly for pleasure rather than performance now.  He has been a member of The Bach Choir for twenty years, as well as singing in various other smaller chamber and church choirs.  He was Vice Chairman of Worcester Festival Chorus, as well as past Chairman of the Anton Bruckner Choir.

Alex has a PhD in Physics and a 1st Class Honours in Physics from Imperial College, he has undertaken post doctoral research at The Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge and authored 50 peer review papers and reports.  Alex is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. 

Jenny Clarke

Jenny has been a member of The Bach Choir since the Autumn of 2008, making her a relative ‘newbie’ by some people’s records. In addition to participating in the vast variety of concerts the Choir has had to offer over these years, Jenny has enjoyed tours to China, Hong Kong and the US, as well as some amazing recording sessions closer to home – Abbey Road is always a thrill!

Jenny has been on the board of Trustees twice during her time with the Choir. The skills she has acquired professionally, (Head of Marketing for NBCUniversal International), along with her passion for branding and creative, has meant that she has played a key role in the marketing  and branding of the choir, and she works alongside Jill Pringle and Joe Garvey in the marketing team.

When not singing, Jenny can often be found cooking, walking many miles, and enjoying the food scene that London has to offer.

Ali Carter

Ali has worked in primary education for over 40 years. Her teaching career has solely been in state schools in inner London, holding key roles including SENDCo, Deputy and Assistant head, and Head teacher. She currently teaches music one day a week in Tower Hamlets, and is involved with the Vocalise! schools outreach.

Born in Edinburgh, Ali grew up in London and enjoyed family music-making music on recorders and piano, as well as singing and cello at school, going on to a BMus at Edinburgh University.
Having sung in the St Matthew Passion Ripieno as a 6th former, Ali auditioned for the Bach Choir under Sir David Willcocks, joining in 1983.

Ali is a pianist at her local church as well as for rehearsals for the Telegraph Hill Festival. She also enjoys performing – most recently as Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast! She is in a book group; loves theatre; relishes meals with friends; and is quite obsessed with Nerdle and NYT puzzles.

Tom O’Reilly

Treasurer

Having joined The Choir in 2014, Tom became Treasurer in 2023.

Tom currently works as Transformation Director at market-research company Kantar, where he is responsible for one division’s overall transformation plan working alongside the company’s private equity owners. His responsibilities include M&A, commercial excellence, and product/technology builds. Previously, Tom worked as a Management Consultant at McKinsey and Co., in the Strategy and Corporate Finance practice. He was also briefly a Grade 6 Civil Servant in the Department for Education.

Tom’s other interests include skiing, sailing and taking his golden retriever for walks. He is a trustee of National Debate Team, a small charity that oversees the England schools’ competitive debating team.

Lily German

Lily is an Artist and Educator, working predominantly in clay and performance. Lily delivers freelance creative workshops for many different institutions and charities. Lily’s current teaching includes leading a community ceramics project in Grove Park and working as an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, running a community engagement programme for schools alongside undergraduates in the Art Department. Lily chairs The Bach Choir’s Community Engagement Group and works closely with the team to help deliver Vocalise! workshops in schools and further develop the Choir’s work across different communities.  

Lily has been a soprano in The Bach Choir for eight years, however, has just sung her twelfth St Matthew Passion with the choir, singing with the Ripieno whilst at school. Lily is keen to make singing and choral music accessible and inclusive. 

Living in South-East London, Lily enjoys spending time running, sailing and going to see Art and Theatre. 

Jill Pringle

Jill is an experienced Marketing Director and Consultant across both commercial and not for profit organisations. She’s a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and published author. Jill grew up in Sheffield, where she played in brass bands, sang in the City’s award-winning Girls’ Choir and had free weekly singing lessons from the age of 11. She went on to study music at Lancaster University before a Masters in Marketing at Kingston University Business School.

Jill acknowledges that all of her formative experiences were in some way connected to musical activities, most notably the chance to sing in choral competitions and concert halls across the UK, Europe and Canada. She is passionate about musical education and its benefit to health, wellbeing and importantly, social inclusion and mobility.  Aside from singing, Jill loves swimming, gardening, camping and walking in the countryside. Born with hip-dysplasia, Jill writes a blog to raise awareness of living and walking with the condition and to raise money for charity.

Katharine Richman

Chair

Katharine Richman studied piano, organ and viola as a child, going on to read music at Selwyn College, Cambridge and the University of London Institute of Education. She now works as a freelance musician, dividing her time between examining for ABRSM, teaching piano to students of all ages, and devising and directing residential music courses. Singing has always been a part of her life and she joined The Bach Choir as a student in 1984, since when she has volunteered in various capacities including as webmaster and programme editor, before becoming Chair in April 2016, the first woman to hold the post in the Choir’s 140-year history.

Katharine has been editor of the widely respected Delius Society Journal for a number of years, combining a love of the music of Delius with a love of writing. She also enjoys travelling and, before the pandemic, spent time working for ABRSM in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

Mark Anderson

Mark was a chorister in York Minster and singing has become a big part of his life again since he joined the Choir in 2012. After studying law at University, he qualified as a Solicitor with a large City firm and then helped to establish a company specialising in share option schemes and bonus schemes for employees. Later, he set up a small holiday house business in the Scottish Highlands, worked part time as a garden designer and gained governance experience as the Vice Chair of a Multi Academy Trust with eight schools in the State sector.

Married with three adult children, Mark is a keen gardener and also enjoys golf, watching sport and History. Since joining the Choir he’s helped with marketing, fundraising, music hire and financial planning.

Our Staff Team

Joe Garvey

Digital Marketing Manager

Joe looks after all our marketing communications, audience engagement and digital content.

joe.garvey@thebachchoir.org.uk

Sally Carr

Community Engagement Administrator

Sally looks after our Vocalise! programme which includes our work with children in London schools and residents in nursing homes.

sally.carr@thebachchoir.org.uk

Rosie Wennink

Administrator

Our Administrator looks after all our concert and rehearsal logistics, and admin for members, friends and donors.

administrator@thebachchoir.org.uk