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I think when I look back on my life in years to come, 2025 will unquestionably be one of the standout years, and being one of the National Youth Choir’s Emerging Professional Artists has played a huge part in that being the case. 

Before the summer

I came into this scheme thinking that the vast majority of the value I would get out of it would be the time spent on residential courses, working alongside and learning from established professionals, and getting fully immersed in the fantastic culture that NYC cultivates on these courses, something I remember well from my own time in the choir. Whilst I can’t deny that this has held true, the other days spread across the year - a masterclass here, a workshop there - have also been hugely enriching.

It seems an age ago, but watching the 2024 Fellows perform at the February showcase was inspiring and exciting, both to see what I could look forward to in the year ahead, and demonstrating what the cutting edge of choral music could sound like! Then the other most interesting part of my pre-summer work was attending and assisting on two weekend workshops with the SING! Programme. To say that the staff leading these workshops are masters at their craft simply does not do justice to how utterly brilliant they are at spreading the joy of singing and teaching musicianship in an engaging and interactive way! I learnt so much, and always came away from those days feeling invigorated and full of ideas and songs to bring to my own choir that I conduct in Guildford.

Summer course with National Youth Choir (18-25 Years)

The week spent in Blackpool with the 18-25 choir at the end of July had so much packed into it that it is impossible to mention everything. I came into this week with precious little voice, worrying that this would affect my ability to truly enjoy the course, and yet still managed to make some incredible memories. Nic had chosen a fantastic programme of pieces to take to the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford. György Orbán’s Daemon Irrepit Callidus is an absolute firecracker of a piece, and I think my soul might have actually left my body the first time I heard Ola Gjeilo’s Sanctus (London)!

People join NYC for the music, but they stay with the organisation for the friends they make and the fun they have on the courses, and this one was no exception, with some wonderful evening pub chats had with my fellow EPAs. It was also a lot of fun to make a surprise cameo in the NYC News, reprising a role I played for three years when I was in the choir (complete with fairy godmother fancy dress!), and then to throw together a short musical skit with the other Fellows (plus Josh) to perform at Cabaret, featuring my best attempt at an impression of a psychopathic seagull. Many and varied are the skills you learn at NYC!

Towards the end of the week, Nic was very generous in giving me some podium time with the full choir on Rheinberger’s Kyrie, a piece that has long been a favourite of mine. Standing in front of the choir and feeling the power of them responding in the moment to what I was trying to show them was spine-tingling, and when we later came to perform this piece in the concert in Hereford, I found myself getting so involved and invested in the performance as I was singing that I couldn’t help but cry. As an unashamed softie, crying at music isn’t an infrequent occurrence for me, but it’s usually tied up with other emotions of farewell services or nostalgic memories. This was an entirely new experience of just being overwhelmed by the sheer joy and power of making beautiful music as part of a collective whole, and is a memory I will never forget.

A visit to National Youth Choir (15-18 Years)

Singing with the 18-25 choir was memorable, there’s no doubt about it, but I’d done more or less the same thing many times before when I was a member. However, getting to be on the music staff for the 15-18 Summer Course was a completely novel experience for me, and easily the part of this scheme that I was most excited for. I was determined to make the most of the week set in the picturesque setting of rural Lancashire, and all my hopes were met, exceeded, and then some!

The staff team, led by the inspirational Ellie Slorach, were amazing to watch and learn from, and also incredibly generous in giving me and my fellow EPA’s opportunities to put into practice all the skills we’d learned this year - leading warm-ups, sectionals, and contributing meaningfully to helping the week come together. I even foolishly volunteered myself to be an accompanist for one of the vocal masterclasses, which was a real test of my (severely lacking) keyboard skills, but being outside of my comfort zone forced me to learn on the job, and I’m very glad I did!

There’s an absolutely contagious youthful enthusiasm that comes with working with this age group, and it was a joy to behold. I’d like to pay tribute to the unsung heroes of NYC residential courses, the pastoral and administrative staff, who make the whole thing possible by allowing the music staff to focus on getting the most out of these wonderful young singers.

The other surprise of this week was that the lovely Charlotte Galloway, section leader, musicianship coach, and all-around legend, had chosen to bring my arrangement of What a Wonderful World (that I’d written years ago at university) to teach to her quarter choir. Hearing them perform it at the informal cabaret performance at the end of the week was a pleasure and a joy, and a reminder that perhaps I should have another go at some other arrangements I’ve wanted to do for a while!

After the summer

The main thing that has happened on the scheme since the summer was the Fellowship recordings, where the four fellows plus Josh and three fellowship alumni formed an octet to record pieces written especially for us by the Young Composers. This was a fantastic and eye-opening experience of what working at a professional level looks like in this industry, and it’s very exciting to have a record of my time with the organisation this year. I’m looking forward to hearing the final products when they are released!

Away from NYC, only a few days prior to that recording day I’d actually had my first-round audition for the King’s Singers, and following three further rounds of auditions spread over a month and a half, I was absolutely astonished to be offered the job and will be starting with the group in September 2026! I have long said that being in the King’s Singers would be my dream job, so I am well aware that this is a life-changing opportunity. My time with NYC has undoubtedly played a part in me getting the position - I even mentioned my time as NYC News anchor during my interview!

As I write this, the 18-25 choir are in the middle of a run of sixteen performances of Carols at the Royal Albert Hall, and I’m looking forward to joining them in a few days for one of the concerts, which will be a lovely full circle moment for me, as I sang in the first iteration of these concerts that NYC was involved in, all the way back in 2018, as a fresh-faced baritone who had only just joined the choir, and was being made to sing tenor. I wonder what he’d think if he could see me now!

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