Ben Parry’s compositions and arrangements include the popular Faber Carol Book and a burgeoning catalogue of choral music for Peters Edition and Oxford University Press. He has enjoyed commissions from, among others, St John’s College, Cambridge, The Cathedral Choral Society of Washington DC, VOCES8, the BBC Singers, Chelmsford, Ely, Norwich and Worcester cathedrals, and his music has been heard at the BBC Proms and on the TV and radio. Ben studied Music and History of Art at Cambridge University, and was a member of King’s College Choir. In the mid-1980s he joined The Swingle Singers as a singer, arranger and music director, toured globally and performed with some of the world’s greatest musicians including Stephane Grappelli, Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio. Moving to Edinburgh in 1995, he co-founded the Dunedin Consort, which has gone on to establish itself as Scotland’s premiere Baroque ensemble. He also took up posts as Director of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, Director of Choral Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and conductor of Haddo House Opera. He moved back to England in 2003, becoming Director of Music at St. Paul’s School, London, then of Junior Academy at the Royal Academy of Music, and subsequently his current position as Artistic Director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. As co-director of London Voices he has performed in major concert houses around the world as well as conducting many major film soundtracks including Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and Avengers. Ben is Assistant Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge, where he is responsible for the mixed choir, King’s Voices. He is also Music Director of Aldeburgh Voices, the resident choir at Snape Maltings in Suffolk.
As an orchestral conductor he has worked with the Academy of Ancient Music, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Seville Royal Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic and BBC Concert Orchestras. Ben features on the credits of well over 100 recordings, appearing variously as singer, conductor, co- director, director, producer, chorus master and composer.

The Choir of Royal Holloway is considered to be one of the finest mixed-voice collegiate choirs in Britain. Their recordings on the Hyperion label have attracted top reviews from all major music publications. Equally at home on the concert platform, the choir gives 50-plus concerts a year with a particular specialism in music from the late renaissance and contemporary music, especially from the Baltic States. The choir also regularly collaborates with other ensembles such as the King’s Singers, London Mozart Players and Fretwork. Created at the time of the foundation of Royal Holloway in 1886, the choir was originally only for women’s voices. The mixed choir now comprises 24 Choral Scholars who undertake a busy schedule of weekly services, as well as concerts, international tours, recordings and broadcasts. In addition to these, Royal Holloway is also the only university that still maintains a tradition of daily sung morning services.
The choir has been fortunate to sing at a number of high-profile events including the 2014 Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall (live on BBC TV), an awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace and performing a new John Rutter commission for the Magna Carta 800th anniversary in front of HM The Queen, the Prime Minister and Archbishop of Canterbury. The choir regularly sing at festivals, including at Presteigne in 2018. The choir also has a large discography, including 7 on the Hyperion Label. Their most recent (Ola Gjeilo: Winter Songs) was No. 1 in the UK and US classical chart, and forthcoming releases include music by Ben Parry, Joanna Marsh and James Francis Brown. Recent projects have included performances of Beethoven’s ‘Ninth Symphony’ with the Britten Sinfonia and Thomas Adès, a new recording of a recently rediscovered Mass by Pierre Villette in Paris, and future plans include tours of North America and southern France in 2020.

Rupert Gough has been director of Choral Music and College Organist at Royal Holloway, University of London since 2005. He is also Organist and Director of Music at London’s oldest surviving church, Saint Bartholomew the Great, which maintains a professional choir. At Royal Holloway Rupert has developed the choral programme to include weekly choral recitals, choral conducting courses for undergraduates, frequent new choral commissions and transformed the Chapel Choir into an elite group of 24 choral scholars. The Choir has particularly come to prominence through their series of recordings for Hyperion Records. Their latest recording of the music of Ola Gjeilo with Decca Classics was top of the US and UK classical charts. The choir is now in demand for recording work from a variety of record labels, composers and orchestras and travels widely for concert performances. Rupert was a chorister at the Chapels Royal, St. James' Palace, and won a scholarship to the Purcell School. He received (with distinction) a Masters degree in English Church Music from the University of East Anglia whilst Organ Scholar at Norwich Cathedral. For 11 years he was Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral during which time he made around 30 CD recordings as accompanist and director. Rupert has worked with a variety of professional ensembles including the BBC Singers, King’s Singers, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. As an organist he has performed widely as an organ soloist and as a part of a violin and organ duo. Highlights include the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and recitals in Moscow and across the USA.