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Gavin Carr - Conductor
Gavin Carr was born in London and studied music and art history at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was a Choral Scholar in the celebrated Chapel Choir. He then emigrated for five years to Australia, where he began his conducting career working with leading ensembles including the Victoria State Opera Chorus and Pipeline Ensemble, and also appeared as baritone in a repertoire ranging from the fourteenth century to a number of world-premieres. Returning to Europe, it was as a singer that Gavin Carr made his debut at the Händel Festspiele in Halle as Manoah in Samson, and for the next ten years it was as baritone that he made his name, appearing at many festivals and with major orchestras and choruses worldwide in concert and recital
Numerous opera appearances with companies in the UK (Scottish Opera, Opera North, Opera Project, Pimlico Opera), France, Ireland, Australia and Italy added to his growing reputation. In 2003 Gavin sought to capitalize on this experience in exploring the role of conductor, and to that end he accepted the post of Music Director of The Athenaeum Singers in Warminster, swiftly following this with Assistant Conductor at the Wexford Festival and at the Cantiere d’Arte di Montepulciano. At Wexford he was subsequently appointed Chorus Master in 2006 to develop a new Irish-based chorus. He returned there in 2007 to make his operatic conducting debut with the Peter Brook version of Bizet’s La Tragédie de Carmen, which was nominated for an Irish Times Arts Award. An affiliation with the professional orchestra Bath Philharmonia began in 2006 when he was appointed Associate Principal Conductor and concerts in 2007 included Haydn’s ‘Nelson’ Mass and a tour of Handel’s Messiah.
In April 2007 Gavin made his debut with the English Chamber Orchestra, conducting an all-star cast including Emma Kirkby, Sarah Connolly and James Gilchrist in the St Matthew Passion in Bath Abbey. This event saw the inauguration of a new professional choir, Chorus Angelorum, which Gavin has formed to take advantage of the wealth of expert choral talent in the South West region. Last June Chorus Angelorum made a warmly-received debut in Italy singing Messiaen’s Trois petites liturgies de la presence divine with Jan Latham-Koenig and the orchestra of the Teatro Regio at the Turin opera house. In August 2007, Gavin Carr returned to Italy with Chorus Angelorum for performances of Carmina Burana at the Festivals in Naples, Montepulciano, Bologna and Llubljana. Future projects for Chorus Angelorum include the commercial recording of Paul Carr’s Requiem for an Angel, with the Bath Philharmonia for the Naim label, and a Christmas tour of Messiah.
In 2007 Gavin took over the Chorus Mastership of the Frome Festival Chorus (aka South West Festival Chorus) from Jeffrey Skidmore, and this weekend-workshop chorus has gone from strength to strength with performances and tours of the Brahms Deutsches Requiem and the Bach B Minor Mass with over 200 participants. In 2009 the chorus meets to perform Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem in Bath Abbey in January, and in May they perform The Dream of Gerontius in Wells Cathedral followed by a week’s tour to China to present the first ever mainland performances of Elgar’s masterpiece in Shanghai and Beijjing.
In January of 2008 Gavin was appointed Conductor of the Bath Minerva Choir, one of the city’s largest performing ensembles with 140 voices and growing! Concerts of Russian Orthodox a cappella music and Tavener with cellist Tim High, and a Verdi Opera Gala with soprano Gwyneth-Ann Jeffers are meeting with rave reviews from public and press alike. The season of 2008/9 sees Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna together in Bath Abbey in the autumn, and a fascinating programme of Purcell, Bruckner, Barber and Rutter in March 2009. In July of 2009 Bath Minerva Choir joins with another of Gavin’s large choruses, The Athenaeum Singers of Warminster, to perform Vaughan Williams’ magnificent A Sea Symphony in Wells Cathedral as a benefit for the RNLI, with soloists Amanda Roocroft and William Dazeley.
January 2009 sees Gavin take up another new post as Music Director of the celebrated Bristol Bach Choir – a crack chamber chorus with a reputation for the finest singing standards and stimulating programming. Their first year of concerts ranges from the Monteverdi Vespers in Bristol Cathedral via Messiah to American 20 th Choral Masterpieces, and beyond to the extraordinary creations of the new wave of Baltic and Georgian composers Kancheli, Vasks, Silvestrov and Pärt.
He still finds time for some singing work, and recent and upcoming appearances include Golijov’s Grammy Award-winning opera Ainadamar with Dawn Upshaw and the CBSO at Birmingham Symphony Hall and the Barbican, and Britten’s War Requiem at the Teatro Municipal opera in Santiago, Chile.
Paul Feldwick – Chairman
After more than thirty years working in an advertising agency, Paul is now an independent consultant and has more time to devote to music. A bass-baritone, he sings with Chandos Singers and Chorus Angelorum as well as with Bath Minerva Choir. He is also developing a solo repertoire, and in the past year has sung solo parts in the Durufle Requiem (Minerva), Finzi’s In Terra Pax and Purcell’s Full Anthems (Chandos), and Messiah (Devizes Chamber Choir), as well as giving song recitals in Bath and Melksham.
Paul writes, ‘Bath is lucky to have a number of excellent choirs, but I believe Minerva is unique in being a non-auditioning choir that also aspires to the highest performance standards and performs major repertoire with professional orchestras and soloists. I have no doubt that with Gavin Carr’s outstanding skills as a choral coach and singer we can achieve some astonishing results this year and next.’
Steven HollasSteven Hollas read music at Corpus Christi College , Cambridge . He lives in Bradford-on-Avon and was head of music at St. Laurence School for several years. He now teaches piano, organ and harpsichord, mostly at the Wiltshire Music Centre.
Since 1996 he has played continuo for the period-instrument ensemble Bradford Baroque Band.
Bath Minerva Choir