Meet our artists

Juliet Fraser © Dimitri Djuric

Soprano Juliet Fraser specialises in the gnarly edges of contemporary classical music. She maintains a busy schedule of international performances as a soloist, regularly performing with ensembles such as Musikfabrik, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern and Quatuor Bozzini, and as a duo with pianist Mark Knoop. She is an active commissioner of new repertoire and has worked particularly closely with composers Laurence Crane, Pascale Criton, Bernhard Lang, Cassandra Miller and Rebecca Saunders. Juliet is artistic director of the eavesdropping festival in London and programme director of VOICEBOX, a programme for advanced singers specialising in contemporary vocal performance. In 2023 she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music by Southampton University.

Emma Tring studied Music at Bristol University and GSMD and is now a successful soloist and ensemble singer in the UK and abroad. Emma has performed operatic roles with companies including European Chamber Opera, I Fagiolini and BBC Singers. She has sung operatic ensemble and chorus with Music Theatre Wales and BBC Singers under conductors including Martyn Brabbins and John Adams. As a soloist she has premiered many works and has performed with all the BBC Orchestras, the LSO, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, English Sinfonia, Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Britten Sinfonia, The Hanover Band, RPO, AAM, The Bristol Ensemble and St James Baroque, as well as Choral Societies around the UK.

Emma joined the BBC Singers in 2008 as one of their full-time sopranos and appears regularly with them as ensemble singer and soloist. She also recently joined new vocal ensemble Vox Urbane whose aim is to promote diversity within choral music. She has performed widely with I Fagiolini and has worked with Britten Sinfonia voices, The Clerks, The Scholars and The Sixteen. Emma is also a keen recitalist and enjoys performing with her violinist husband Robin Martin.

In 2023 highlights as soprano soloist include Verlaine Songs by John Pickard; Emilie Suite by Saariaho (both with BBCNOW and Martyn Brabbins); Berio’s Sinfonia in Tenerife; Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music in Brighton; Eriks Esenvalds ‘Passion and Resurrection’ in Ely with Britten Sinfonia; Rossini’s Stabat Mater at Dartington; Mehta Songs by Nick Korth with English Sinfonia. Also two performances of Poulenc’s Figure Humaine with Sir Simon Rattle at Barbican and RAH were a career highlight!

Soprano Rebecca Lea enjoys a busy and varied career, performing across the UK and abroad. Recent highlights include a solo appearance at the BBC Proms in a new commission by Cheryl Frances Hoad with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a further Proms appearance with Sir Simon Rattle and the BBC Singers, a disc of music by Benevoli with solo-voice ensemble, I Fagiolini, solos with the BBC Concert Orchestra on a disc of music by Peter Warlock, step-out solos with the Sixteen at the Wigmore Hall, an appearance as ‘The Jewel Thief’ and a solo appearance on a new recording of music by Kenneth Leighton, which was picked as one of Gramophone’s Discs of the Year for 2023.

In 2024 she is looking forward to a Wigmore Hall appearance in a programme of solo voice madrigals with  I Fagiolini, several European tours with the Tallis Scholars, centenary celebrations with the BBC Singers and the recording of her first solo album, The New Winter Songbook, with pianist Caroline Jaya Ratnam, due for release in 2025. Rebecca lives in South West London with her husband, daughter and mischievous kitten.

Mezzo soprano Lucy Goddard is a committed interpreter of contemporary music. With pianist Siwan Rhys she has commissioned pieces by Laura Bowler, Chris Mayo, James Weeks and Josh Levine, held residencies at Snape Maltings, and worked with composition students at Durham, Southampton and City universities. Michael Finissy wrote Recordare for Lucy to perform with him in 2018. With EXAUDI she has appeared in major festivals and venues, including Spitalfields, Aldeburgh and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festivals, Kings Place, South Bank Centre and Wigmore Hall, with ensembles including the London Sinfonietta, BCMG, Talea Ensemble and Ensemble Modern, and has held residencies and given workshops at IRCAM, Royaumont and Aldeburgh. Beyond contemporary music, opera roles include Dorabella (Così), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Annio (Tito) and Hänsel.

As a baroque specialist she has performed as a soloist with groups such as the Academy of Ancient Music, Dunedin Consort and Solomon’s Knot in venues including the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square. Lucy graduated with distinction for her Masters at the Royal Academy of Music, having previously read Languages at Cambridge University and studied violin at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, Italy. As Associate Conductor to Ben Parry at London Voices she has conducted film sessions in Abbey Road and Air Studios for Marvel, Paramount, Disney, EMI and Decca, and recorded Grammy award-winning pop/crossover discs. She is MD of Orlando Chamber Choir and Concordium.

www.lucygoddard.com

London born mezzo soprano Jessica Gillingwater studies with David Pollard and is a member of the BBC Singers and Exaudi. Recent operatic highlights include the roles of Eve in A Kind Man by Jonathan Finney,  Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas with the BBC Singers, Lavinia in the Errollyn Wallen’s Dido’s Ghost at with Dunedin Consort at Buxton International Festival. On the concert platform Jessica’s recent performances include Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder with the South East London Orchestra, Bernstein’s Jeremiah symphony with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at Saffron Hall, Duruflé’s Requiem with Stephen Cleobury and the BBC Concert Orchestra at King’s College Cambridge and Mrs Noye in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde with Martyn Brabbins at Southwark Cathedral. Jessica also has a keen interest in contemporary music and has recently performed Boulez’s Le Marteau Sans Maître and Ligeti’s Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures with the Psappha Ensemble at Hallé St Peter’s.  Jessica has recently established a song recital series, “Proud Songsters” highlights of which have included Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder. Jessica’s oratorio repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, Elgar’s Apostles and Dream of Gerontius; Bach’s Passions and B Minor Mass; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater and Verdi’s Requiem. Jessica also performs regularly with ensembles including Dunedin Consort, Solomon’s Knot, and The Marian Consort.

A former choral scholar of King’s College in Cambridge, Tom Williams now enjoys a freelance career as a professional countertenor, conductor and singing teacher. He has been a core member of the internationally-acclaimed new music vocal ensemble EXAUDI since 2003 and a regular choirman of the Temple Church for over twenty years. He sang for many years in Stephen Layton’s choir Polyphony and has also performed with The Choir of the Enlightenment, The Tallis Scholars and The Hanover Band.

He has directed Leicestershire Chorale, a choir of serious amateur and some semi-professional singers since 200 and has also directed the Bardi Symphony Orchestra and the Leicestershire Camerata. He teaches singing at both Uppingham and Oundle Schools and for some years worked as a vocal coach for the RSCM.

As a soloist he has appeared in premier venues both internationally and within the UK, also broadcasting for radio, television and on the internet. He has sung as a soloist at concerts and religious services given in honour of both President Mikhail Gorbachev and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and has featured on recordings for both the Signum and Métier labels, singing the music of Henry Purcell and Christopher Fox respectively. He lives in Leicester with his partner Nicky, herself a professional musician and his son George, a keen trombonist.

A contemporary music specialist, Stephen Jeffes‘ solo performances include Finnissy Cipriano at this year’s Aldeburgh festival, Berio’s Sinfonia, Rihm’s Vigilia with Musik Fabrik; Eötvös Energische Schönheit with Ensemble Modern; Stravinsky Threni and Sermon, Narrative and Prayer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo; Vivier’s Journal with the Psappha Ensemble and Michael Finnissy’s Gesualdo: Libro Sesto with EXAUDI at the Huddersfield Festival.  He is also a highly experienced chamber choral singer, for both consort and larger forces.

David de Winter was born in Surrey and received his formative musical training as a chorister at Westminster Cathedral, before studying Music at Durham University and Voice at the Royal Academy of Music.  He was a finalist in the 2019 Handel Singing Competition, winning the Selma D and Leon Fischbach Memorial Award.  His musical repertoire spans over 900 years, from the 11th Century to the present day.

As a soloist he has performed in the UK, Europe and Asia in venues such as The Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Palau de la Musica and Centre Georges Pompidou.  He has featured in broadcasts on BBC radio and television, and across Europe.  David has collaborated with many of the UK’s & Europe’s leading early music ensembles, such as the AAM, OAE, Early Opera Company, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Instruments of Time & Truth, The English Concert and The Brook Street Band in repertoire ranging from Rameau & Purcell to Bach & Handel.

David’s discography ranges from Purcell to Finnissy and his recordings of Purcell Odes with The King’s Consort were shortlisted for both the 2021 & 2022 Gramophone Awards.  He released an album in 2022, Adorna with Opus Anglicanum together with the jazz pianist Jason Rebello.  His debut solo disc in collaboration with The Brook Street Band Heinrich Schütz – A German in Venice will be released in early 2024 on First Hand Records.

www.daviddewinter.co.uk

Ben McKee began his career as a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, and studied music at the University of Manchester, and is currently a Lay Clerk at Westminster Cathedral in London. He has developed a reputation for both his consort work and performances of new music, in addition to an increasingly busy solo career. In the UK, Ben is a member of EXAUDI, Fieri Consort and regularly sings with groups including The Tallis Scholars, the BBC Singers, Dunedin Consort, Academy of Ancient Music, La Nuova Musica and The Gabrieli Consort. Ben has also performed abroad with Theatre of Voices and was formerly a member of Ars Nova, Copenhagen. Outside of singing, Ben is training to become a physiotherapist, finding time between concerts and tours to complete a full-time BSc in London. His passions include running, rock climbing and film photography.

Other than being a Lay Clerk at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Simon Whiteley tours and records with some of the best-known choirs and ensembles in the world. He is a regular member of EXAUDI and Gothic Voices, and also sings regularly with The Tallis Scholars, The Cardinall’s Musick and Tenebrae. He is also a founder member of the internationally renowned a cappella ensemble, The Queen’s Six. 

With The Queen’s Six, Simon has made appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS Sunday Morning, and interviews with him were also featured in two articles for People magazine. He also received critical acclaim for his rendition of Tom Lehrer’s ‘The Elements’, recorded with The Queen’s Six on Signum Records. 

In his capacity as Lay Clerk at St George’s, Windsor, Simon has sung at a number of high-profile, Royal events, including the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the funeral of HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, and the Committal part of the funeral services for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Jimmy Holliday began singing as a cathedral chorister at Lichfield before joining National Youth Choir of Great Britain. He was a Lay Clerk at Winchester Cathedral before continuing his vocal training at The Royal College of Music’s International Opera School, where he won various awards and competitions including the inaugural Richard Van Allan award and the 10th Hampshire Singer of the Year competition.

Equally as comfortable on the concert and opera stage as a soloist, Jimmy currently works mainly with ensembles and is a full-time member of the BBC Singers. His first job with a professional vocal ensemble was with EXAUDI in November 2003, and he has sung the majority of EXAUDI’s contracts and concerts over the last twenty years. He is also a regular bass with Tenebrae, The Gabrieli Consort and Ensemble Plus Ultra, as well as regularly singing with the likes of The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars and I Fagiolini. Further afield he is the regular bass with Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent’s madrigal projects. 

Jimmy is a massive football fan and as well as supporting Liverpool from afar and England closer to home, he has season tickets at Leyton Orient Football Club with his son. He is a keen, very amateur runner, and enjoys gaming with his son, who regularly thrashes him on Fortnite!

James Weeks (*1978) is a composer, conductor and artistic director, based in the North of England. 

His music has been performed and broadcast worldwide, and seven portrait discs have been released to date, including Book of Flames and Shadows (Winter & Winter, 2022) Summer (another timbre, 2021) and windfell (another timbre, 2019).

Collaborators and other performers of his work have included Quatuor Bozzini, Explore Ensemble, Royal Northern Sinfonia, BBC SSO, Ives Ensemble, Plus-Minus, Talea, EXAUDI, Ekmeles, Mira Benjamin, Saviet/Houston and Apartment House.

Awards include a British Composer Award (2018) for Libro di fiammelle e ombre, written for EXAUDI, and an Ivors Composer Award (2019) for Leafleoht, written for Quatuor Bozzini.

In 2002 he founded EXAUDI with soprano Juliet Fraser. As well as maintaining a busy international touring and recording schedule with EXAUDI, he is in high demand as a guest conductor of new music, working with ensembles and orchestras including Royal Northern Sinfonia, BBC Singers, London Sinfonietta and musikFabrik.

He was Associate Head of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London from 2012-17, and took up his present position as Assistant Professor of Composition at Durham University in October 2017.

www.jamesweeks.org