Musical Director: Andrew Griffiths
A musician of rare versatility, Andrew Griffiths combines his role as Head Coach & Music Consultant at the National Opera Studio with a busy freelance career in the worlds of opera and choral music.
A graduate of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, he has conducted productions for The Royal Opera (Linbury Theatre), The Royal Ballet, Welsh National Opera, Opera North, Opera Theatre Company, Opera Collective Ireland, Early Opera Company, Mid Wales Opera, Bampton Classical Opera and Iford Festival Opera. He has appeared in concert with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Swan, Southbank Sinfonia and Orpheus Sinfonia, and he is regularly engaged to broadcast and record with the BBC Singers.
Andrew has worked at Glyndebourne, ENO, Scottish Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, and with the BBC Symphony and Scottish Symphony Orchestras, and regularly joins the music staff at The Royal Opera, working alongside such conductors as Pappano, Bychkov, Gardiner and Mackerras. He is often engaged for projects outside the standard operatic canon, and is particularly experienced in Baroque repertoire and the music of the last 50 years. He is much in demand as a vocal coach, and works frequently with the Young Artists at The Royal Opera, as well as overseeing the training of the singers and pianists at the National Opera Studio.
In constant demand as a choral conductor, Andrew appears regularly with the BBC Singers, for whom his engagements have included the world première of John Pickard’s Mass in Troubled Times, recordings of Brahms, Hassler, Barber, Ives and Giles Swayne, and broadcasts of Howells, MacMillan and Martinů, as well as a Barbican debut directing music from the Flemish Renaissance. He is Musical Director of Kingston Choral Society and chamber choir Londinium, whose debut recording, The Gluepot Connection, received wide critical acclaim. He regularly conducts for Dartington International Summer School, and has appeared as a guest conductor with the BBC Symphony Chorus, New London Chamber Choir, and Hong Kong’s Tallis Vocalis.
A pianist, viola player and singer by training, Andrew began his musical education as a Quirister and Scholar at Winchester College, and read music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he held a Choral Exhibition. He studied conducting under Martyn Brabbins in Glasgow, and trained as a répétiteur at the National Opera Studio and at Scottish Opera. He is a former principal viola of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and a founder member of vocal consort Stile Antico.
In addition to his work at the National Opera Studio, Andrew’s engagements in the 2022-3 season include reinvitations to the Royal Opera for Alcina, Opera Collective Ireland for Semele, and to the Orchestra of the Swan to conduct music by Paul Patterson.
Photo courtesy of Ben McKee.
Rehearsal Pianist: Gavin Roberts
Gavin Roberts enjoys a varied career as a piano accompanist. He has partnered singers in recital at Wigmore Hall, the Barbican Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, and is Artistic Director of the recital series Song in the City. He has appeared at The Cheltenham Festival, Dartington International Festival, The Ludlow Weekend of English Song, The Ryedale Festival and The Oxford Lieder Festival. He works regularly with soprano Lucy Hall, with whom he was the winner of the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform, and actor Rosamund Shelley, with whom he performs her one-woman shows Novello & Son and War Songs.
He has played for The BBC Singers, The Joyful Company of Singers, Constanza Chorus, The Hanover Band, Tiffin Boys’ Choir, and as a répétiteur for Sir Roger Norrington and the late Richard Hickox. Gavin has appeared regularly on BBC Radio broadcasts as a soloist and accompanist, often giving première performances of new works. He has played on numerous recordings for the BBC, ASV, Guild and Priory Records. His most recent project is a CD recording of London-themed song commissions for Song in the City.
Gavin studied piano with Andrew West and Eugene Asti at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he is now a professor. He previously read Music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he also held the organ scholarship. Following this, Gavin gained a Master’s degree from King’s College, London. Gavin is Organist and Director of Music at St Marylebone Parish Church.
Photo courtesy of Felipe Tozzato.