PAST MUSICAL DIRECTORS
Bruce Cash, 2014 - 2015
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Bruce Cash directed the Choir from 2014-2015.
Cantoris welcomed Bruce Cash as Musical Director for 2015. Bruce Cash is an experienced choir director who has recently returned to New Zealand after working overseas for many years. He has directed choirs and orchestras in England, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. He is also an accomplished performer on organ and harpsichord. |
Donald Maurice, Guest Director 2014
Image of Donald Maurice: Massey University
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We were delighted to welcome Donald Maurice as Musical Director for the 1st half of 2014.
Donald was seeking to develop new pathways for himself as a director, including choral work, so it was a great opportunity for the choir to work with a very high calibre performer and director. Donald had a very exciting programme lined up for us: Laurence Sherr - Fugitive Footsteps and Richard Fuchs's "Vom Judischen Schicksal" World premiere as part of WW2 Music Suppresion Conference. More on Donald can be found here. |
Brian O'Regan, Guest Director 2013
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Hailing from Wicklow, Ireland, Brian O'Regan was our Guest Director for 2013 while he was on a working holiday in New Zealand.
Brian was awarded a Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours Degree), Cork School of Music, Cork, Ireland in June 2009. His studies included an Erasmus Exchange Year at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts, Graz, Austria. Upon graduating, Brian was appointed as Director of Music for the Redemptorist Church, Limerick, Ireland, a post he held until 2011. During this time, he was also Co-founder, Director & Music Teacher of the Redemptorist Centre of Music, Limerick, Ireland as well as Deputy Percussionist: RTE Concert Orchestra, Dublin, Ireland. Special Skills & Achievements Awarded the title of “Yamaha/Zildjian Irish Young Drummer of the Year” in March 2005. Brian has played with worldwide orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra, Wiener Jeunesse Orchester, Deutsch-Skandinavische Jugend- Philharmonie, National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble in venues as prestigious as the Berlin Philharmonie. In 2010 Brian spent a month in Brazil doing volunteer work in a very poor area called Parnaiba. With a group of 22 other young people and leaders through an organization called SERVE, he fundraised for a year and in the summer of 2010 helped to build 18 houses for the poorest families living in this area. |
Richard Apperley, 2011 - 2012
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Cantoris welcomed Richard as Musical Director in September 2011.
Richard is at the forefront of New Zealand's younger generation of liturgical organists, recitalists and choral conductors. He is currently the Assistant Director of Music at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, where he is responsible for accompanying services and assisting with the direction of the cathedral’s choirs. Richard formerly held the post of Assistant Organist at Lincoln Cathedral, where he benefited from the opportunity of accompanying and directing one of the UK’s top cathedral choirs. Alongside his work at the cathedral, Richard is Musical Director of Cantoris, a Wellington based chamber choir. The choir explores a diverse range of music – concerts in 2012 will range from medieval Christmas music through to Will Todd's astounding Mass in Blue. He is also Musical Director for the Bach Cantata Vesper series at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Newtown, where he leads Ensemble Abendmusik in performances of baroque Lutheran cantatas in a liturgical setting. He is also one of New Zealand's most active organ teachers and is passionate about fostering a love of the organ in the younger generation. Recent highlights have included Internal Organ, a recital at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul given by Michael Stewart, where audience members were invited to experience the organ from different locations around the cathedral, as well as from inside the organ itself thanks to a multi-speaker installation in the lady chapel. Richard is also co-director and engineer for his audio production company, Hadfield Audio – a specialist location recording company with a focus on choral and organ music. Recordings are usually released on his Organism label – founded in 2010 to allow independent artists to record and release recordings with minimal costs and absolute control over the finished product. Richard has released three of his own recordings on the label so far – a disc featuring Johann Kuhnau's Biblical Sonatas, a recording of Elgar's Vesper Voluntaries on the Norman and Beard organ at St James' Presbyterian Church Newtown – shortly to be demolished, and most recently a disc of organ works by Dietrich Buxtehude. Upcoming releases include recordings by the Tudor Consort, Dianne Halliday and Lisette Wesseling. As an organist Richard has a particular interest in the music of Buxtehude, Howells and contemporary works. He also has a passion for Anglican psalmody, and has led the publication of new psalters at both the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul and Lincoln Cathedral. A keen promoter of New Zealand organ music, Richard has compiled and edited two volumes of New Zealand organ works, published by Fagus Music (UK). He has also given many recitals of the repertoire, and has recorded a concert for broadcast by Radio New Zealand Concert. www.richardapperley.com |
Rachel Hyde, 2006 - 2011
Image of Rachel Hyde: SOUNZ
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Rachel directed Cantoris from 2006 to 2011. The choir has deeply appreciated her vibrant musicality and challenging repertoire and especially our new performance format taking choral music 'out of the box'. Rachel has helped to strengthen the choirs roots for us to build on in the years to come. Thank you!
Rachel first picked up a baton aged 15 and spent a few years learning the trade at the mercy of school children. At 18 she worked at her high school for a year running the extra curricular music programme and conducting various ‘flavours’ of ensemble. Her success conducting in an educational framework led to an invitation to conduct a chamber performance with Sandwell Sinfonia. She was invited to become that orchestra’s Music Director in 1995, followed in 2000 by her appointment as Music Director of Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra. From 2001 she was guest conductor of the Wyre Forest Symphony Orchestra, and was appointed guest conductor of the Wrexham Symphony Orchestra just prior to moving to New Zealand to work for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Rachel was founding conductor of the Central England Ensemble, an orchestra dedicated to performing works by Midland’s composers in every concert. In 2001 she was a finalist in the NFMS Young Conductor competition in Cardiff, and she also participated as a conductor (and timpanist) for the Midland Youth Orchestra’s record breaking ‘longest continuous orchestral performance’. Rachel has extensive experience of MD-ing pantomimes, musicals and stage shows, and in 2005 ventured into the world of choral conducting with her appointment as Music Director of Cantoris. She is a regular guest conductor for Wellington Chamber Orchestra, and in 2008 became the founding Music Director of Schola Sinfonica, a children’s string orchestra aimed at teaching young musicians the joy of orchestral membership. Rachel worked for the NZSO for 6 years but now combines conducting and freelance contract work with full time study at Victoria University of Wellington. |
Michael Vinten, 1995 - 2005
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Michael Vinten was appointed to the post of Musical Director mid-1995.
Michael had directed several other groups including the Wellington City Opera chorus and the Lower Hutt Concert Orchestra, and lectured at Wellington Polytechnic’s Conservatorium of Music. Michael is the Chorus Master & Associate Conductor with the Wellington City Opera & New Zealand Opera since 1991 and Music Director of the Wellington Youth Sinfonietta since 1993. Michael is also currently the President of The New Zealand Opera Society. |
Peter Godfrey CBE, 1992 - 1993
Image of Peter Godfrey: Kapiti Chorale
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Professor Peter Godfrey directed the choir from 1992 to 1993.
From the Fen district of England, Peter came to New Zealand in 1958 where he lectured in music at Auckland University, and was the organist at the Anglican Cathedral. In 1982 Peter was invited to become organist of the Wellington Cathedral and was also appointed conductor of the Orpheus Choir. In 1985 he founded the New Zealand Choral Federation and Choral Foundation at Trinity College, Melbourne in 1989. Often called the "Father of New Zealand choral music", Peter continued to work with choirs after retirement right up to 2006. For his contribution to music, Peter received an MBE in 1978, a CBE in 1988, and Professor Emeritus at Auckland University in 1982. |
Robert Oliver QSM, 1971 - 1991
Image of Robert Oliver: Caritas
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Freelance musician, tenor, viola da gamba player, and specialist in early music, Robert Oliver directed the choir from 1971 to 1991. Robert was awarded a QSM (the Queen's Service Medal) for his work with music, in particular with Cantoris and the first baroque performance on Messiah. Robert is also a life member.
Robert is now Director of Music at St Mary of the Angels Church. |
