Guest Conductors
James Davey
Assistant Conductor- ex NYC member
James has studied conducting under many eminent choral figures, attending the Voices Foundation International Conducting Symposium, working under Mike Brewer and Ralph Allwood, participating in the ABCD (Association of British Choral Directors) Conducting Course, headed by Peter Broadbent and Therees Hibbard, and also studying for a MA Choral Education at Roehampton University.
James began his musical career as a chorister and brass player, gaining a place at the Birmingham Conservatoire to study trumpet and cornet, where, during his final year, he formed his first choir. This first experience of conducting, inspired by singing with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and the critically acclaimed Laudibus, marked a significant turning point and James was allowed to adapt his BMus degree course to reflect this change in direction, even though no official courses in Choral Direction were available from the Conservatoire at the time.
In 2002, James took up an appointment at the BBC, leading a project to re-catalogue the BBC’s vast collection of choral sheet music, and acting as the archive’s chief choral advisor. This was a great opportunity for James to broaden his knowledge of choral repertoire. Whilst at the BBC, James gained valuable experience working with the BBC Singers, the UK’s only full-time professional choir, for whom he has worked as a practitioner on their education project - GoSing.
James is also Musical Director of Chantage, BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year 2006, a choir which he founded in 1999 on taking up residency at St Paul's Cathedral School as Music Assistant, and is also a choral conductor and singing teacher for the West Sussex County Council Music Support Service, The Conservatoire in Blackheath, the Woolwich Tramshed Performing Arts Centre and the Canford Summer School of Music.
