Festival Adjudicators
Adjudicators' Biographical Notes
David Bruce-Payne, B.Mus, FRCO (CHM), ARCM. Formerly a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, and later studied at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells and Douglas Guest. Whilst there, he was awarded the W.T. Best Memorial Scholarship given by the Worshipful Company of Musicians, enabling further organ study in Germany.
Appointments held include Second Assistant Organist at Westminster Abbey and Music Master at the Choir School, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Birmingham Cathedral and Director of Music at King Edward’s School. He was formerly Senior Lecturer at Birmingham Conservatoire and Director of Music at St. George’s Church, Edgbaston. Organ recital and Choral conducting tours have been undertaken in the United States, Canada, Germany and West Indies. He has also performed as soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Improvisation is one of his particular interests.
He is retired examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. He is also an adjudicator member of the British Federation of Music Festivals and works extensively throughout the United Kingdom and abroad. Many compositions of Church music by him have been published with several performances on BBC Radio.
He is now living in Dorset where he is continuing to freelance as a performer and adjudicator. He has been asked to direct a new choir, Harmonia Singers who sing in southern cathedrals and churches. He is now involved as a Trustee of The Lyme Regis Organ School.
Graham Anthony Devine was born in England and began his musical studies at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester with Gordon Crosskey. He moved to Brazil in his teens and became an established performer and teacher there. He is a laureate of many international guitar competit9ions in Europe and the United States and in 2002 he won first prize at the prestigious Alhambra International Guitar Competition. He repeated this success by winning first prize at the Emilio Pujol International Guitar Competition. He has performed in more than twenty countries in solo recital performances and as a soloist with orchestra. Graham currently teaches guitar at the Trinity College of Music and visiting professor at Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Appointments held include Second Assistant Organist at Westminster Abbey and Music Master at the Choir School, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Birmingham Cathedral and Director of Music at King Edward’s School. He was formerly Senior Lecturer at Birmingham Conservatoire and Director of Music at St. George’s Church, Edgbaston. Organ recital and Choral conducting tours have been undertaken in the United States, Canada, Germany and West Indies. He has also performed as soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Improvisation is one of his particular interests.
He is retired examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. He is also an adjudicator member of the British Federation of Music Festivals and works extensively throughout the United Kingdom and abroad. Many compositions of Church music by him have been published with several performances on BBC Radio.
He is now living in Dorset where he is continuing to freelance as a performer and adjudicator. He has been asked to direct a new choir, Harmonia Singers who sing in southern cathedrals and churches. He is now involved as a Trustee of The Lyme Regis Organ School.
Graham Anthony Devine was born in England and began his musical studies at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester with Gordon Crosskey. He moved to Brazil in his teens and became an established performer and teacher there. He is a laureate of many international guitar competit9ions in Europe and the United States and in 2002 he won first prize at the prestigious Alhambra International Guitar Competition. He repeated this success by winning first prize at the Emilio Pujol International Guitar Competition. He has performed in more than twenty countries in solo recital performances and as a soloist with orchestra. Graham currently teaches guitar at the Trinity College of Music and visiting professor at Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Ruth Gerald - Ruth is currently a freelance musician, teacher, adjudicator and examiner. She was Head of Keyboard Studies at the Royal College of Music from 1992 until 1999 having previously be4en appointed Faculty Adviser for Keyboard Studies in 1987.
Her career has always pursued a very wide path - solo and lecture recitals, concertos, chamber music, Lieder recitals, accompanying, adjudicating, examining and teaching. She was Head of Keyboard Studies at the Birmingham School of Music (now the Birmingham Conservatoire) for a period of five years, but relinquished this post in order to devote more time to performing, and teaching at the Royal College where she was a Professor of Piano and Piano Accompaniment for over 30 years. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal College in 1985.
Born and educated in Australia, Ruth began her musical career there, broadcasting regularly at a very early age. After winning the Elder Overseas Scholarship and gaining a Bachelor of Music degree at Adelaide University she continued with postgraduate studies at the Royal College where she was awarded many prizes, including the Hopkinson Gold Medal.
Recently she has given Master classes in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Malta and Greece and conducted many seminars for piano teachers in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. She is frequently invited to adjudicate at Festivals world-wide and is actively involved in many aspects of the work of the ABRSM.
Her career has always pursued a very wide path - solo and lecture recitals, concertos, chamber music, Lieder recitals, accompanying, adjudicating, examining and teaching. She was Head of Keyboard Studies at the Birmingham School of Music (now the Birmingham Conservatoire) for a period of five years, but relinquished this post in order to devote more time to performing, and teaching at the Royal College where she was a Professor of Piano and Piano Accompaniment for over 30 years. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal College in 1985.
Born and educated in Australia, Ruth began her musical career there, broadcasting regularly at a very early age. After winning the Elder Overseas Scholarship and gaining a Bachelor of Music degree at Adelaide University she continued with postgraduate studies at the Royal College where she was awarded many prizes, including the Hopkinson Gold Medal.
Recently she has given Master classes in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Malta and Greece and conducted many seminars for piano teachers in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. She is frequently invited to adjudicate at Festivals world-wide and is actively involved in many aspects of the work of the ABRSM.
Paul Gregory, established himself as one of the leading concert guitarists of his generation. Classical Guitar described him as ‘One of our very best guitarists’. He gave his Wigmore Hall concert debut at the age of 19. In 1978 he won the Andres Segovia International Guitar Competition and gained second prize in the Tarrega Competition and gained second prize in the Tarrega Competition, both in Spain. He has performed at all the major concert halls in London and has been broadcast many times by BBC Radio 3, including live recitals from Broadcasting House as part of the famous Lunchtime Concert Series. He has been invited to perform and teach in most parts of the world.
Paul has been a visiting professor to the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin and is currently chief external examiner at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He also teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Lewes, Sussex.
Paul has been a visiting professor to the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin and is currently chief external examiner at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He also teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Lewes, Sussex.
Rachel Gregory, FTCL. LTCL. Rachel Gregory obtained the FTCL diploma at the age of 16 and subsequently studied recorder with Carl Dolmetsch and harpsichord with Ruth Dyson. She performs regularly, both as soloist and in several groups. She teaches in schools, at weekend courses and Summer schools, both in the UK and Europe. She is a member of the British Federation of Music Festivals and is increasingly in demand as an adjudicator. Rachel lives in Hampshire with her husband and two young sons.
Neil Jenkins has carved out a unique career, being equally at home as an Operatic, Oratorio and Recital singer; and combining this with an increasingly important role as a musicologist. He has recently been appointed to a Cambridge Fellowship to enable him to research the lives of 18th century English singers. Neil has translated and edited all of Bach’s major choral works for the New Novello Choral Edition. The Bach Choir of London and English National Opera are amongst those organisations which regularly use his editions.
In the world of opera he has appeared regularly with all of Britain’s leading companies. At Glyndebourne he has sung in Owen Wingrave and The Makropulos Case; and his appearances with them in Lulu and Higglety Pipplety Pop are also available on video. At the 1976 Aldeburgh Festival he created the role of Inkslinger in Britten’s Paul Bunyan, under the supervision of the composer himself, returning there with the ENO for the first ever Aldeburgh staging of Peter Grimes. He recently appeared with New Kent Opera in Britten’s Albert Herring, having sung with the previous Kent Opera for twenty years. His well received Arnalta in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea (for WNO) was also seen on BBC 2 television.
He has recorded under such eminent batons as those of Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Marriner, Mackerras, Chailly, Nagano, Davis, Haitink, Norrington, Gardiner and Hickox. He is also known for his performances of contemporary music, where he has been directed by Simon Rattle, Hans Werner Henze, Sakari Oramo, David Atherton, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, and Boulez.
Neil has recently sung in Janacek’s The Makropulos Case in New York, Berlin, Amsterdam and Lyon Britten’s Billy Budd in Geneva and Chicago; and Peter Grimes in Paris, Santiago and Israel. He also recently performed the Britten Serenade four times with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and Andre Previn’s A Streetcar named Desire with the composer conducting the LSO.
He has recorded under such eminent batons as those of Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Marriner, Mackerras, Chailly, Nagano, Davis, Haitink, Norrington, Gardiner and Hickox. He is also known for his performances of contemporary music, where he has been directed by Simon Rattle, Hans Werner Henze, Sakari Oramo, David Atherton, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, and Boulez.
Neil has recently sung in Janacek’s The Makropulos Case in New York, Berlin, Amsterdam and Lyon Britten’s Billy Budd in Geneva and Chicago; and Peter Grimes in Paris, Santiago and Israel. He also recently performed the Britten Serenade four times with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and Andre Previn’s A Streetcar named Desire with the composer conducting the LSO.
Neil teaches at several international summer schools, gives a regular series of master classes, and sits on international singing juries. Since September 2002 he has been the Musical Director of the Sussex Chorus. He has recently been honoured by the Worshipful Company of Musicians with the “Sir Charles Santley Memorial Award”.
Penny Jenkins, Penny Jenkins has performed opera and oratorio throughout Europe, has broadcast for the BBC and recorded solos with the Oriana Consort, the Brighton Chamber Choir and the Neil Jenkins Chorale. She now concentrates on teaching singing to people of all ages and abilities, and loves her classes for adult singers (such as the ones at “Jackdaws”) called Discover Your Voice, as well as her work with juniors called Ready, Steady, Sing! She has twice been Musician in Residence for the Jackdaws Educational Trust in Somerset, working with primary and secondary school children on large-scale choral works.
For ten years she was a tutor at Summer Music, where she got to know Steven Rickards. She is now co-director, with him, of the Vocal Arts Institute at the University of Indianapolis. She has successfully trained pupils for Choral Scholarships at Cambridge University and places at London music colleges. In recent years she has been working as a vocal coach in the world of film and television, notably the Edinburgh Festival and Cannes success: The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael in 2005 she was seen training the priest in Channel 4’s documentary. In 2005 she was seen training the priest in Channel 4’s documentary Priest Idol.
Penny Jenkins, Penny Jenkins has performed opera and oratorio throughout Europe, has broadcast for the BBC and recorded solos with the Oriana Consort, the Brighton Chamber Choir and the Neil Jenkins Chorale. She now concentrates on teaching singing to people of all ages and abilities, and loves her classes for adult singers (such as the ones at “Jackdaws”) called Discover Your Voice, as well as her work with juniors called Ready, Steady, Sing! She has twice been Musician in Residence for the Jackdaws Educational Trust in Somerset, working with primary and secondary school children on large-scale choral works.
For ten years she was a tutor at Summer Music, where she got to know Steven Rickards. She is now co-director, with him, of the Vocal Arts Institute at the University of Indianapolis. She has successfully trained pupils for Choral Scholarships at Cambridge University and places at London music colleges. In recent years she has been working as a vocal coach in the world of film and television, notably the Edinburgh Festival and Cannes success: The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael in 2005 she was seen training the priest in Channel 4’s documentary. In 2005 she was seen training the priest in Channel 4’s documentary Priest Idol.
Rosie Leefe (No notes available)
Kathryn Parry read music at Selwyn College, Cambridge and studied the violin with Howard Davis at the Royal Academy of Music where she won several prizes for chamber music and was awarded the prestigious Dip RAM for ensemble playing. She has performed chamber music in recitals for music clubs and festivals worldwide, as well as playing with several London orchestras, including the Academy of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London Mozart Players and City of London Sinfonia. Kathryn was a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, then joined the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and for eight years lived in Edinburgh with her husband and three children. She has appeared as leader of the Edinburgh Quartet, and the Scottish-based Quartet Dom, and is a frequent guest of the Hebrides Ensemble and Britten Sinfonia. Kathryn plays regularly with several period instrument ensembles, including La Serenissima, London Handel Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and has recently joined the Revolutionary Drawing Room string quartet. She teaches violin and viola at St. Paul’s School in London and Ipswich School in Suffolk.
Arthur Robson, M.Mus, B.Ed (Hons), LRAM, ATCL. Arthur Robson is Principal Lecturer in Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Chichester where he teaches Composition and Choral work and runs a number of choirs. He has just developed a Masters Level course in Choral Studies. He has a wide range of choral experience, both in the mixed voice and upper voices traditions. Whilst teaching in secondary schools he ran girls’ choirs and the West Sussex Boys’ Choir. Over the years he has worked regularly abroad with other choirs and conductors and his travels have taken him to Hungary, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Belgium, Holland, Iceland and America. He works tirelessly to enthuse all his students to enjoy the experience of singing, and sincerely believes that choral singing is vital to happiness and health. With this in mind he regularly runs Singing Days for amateur enthusiasts so they can experience the joy of singing together.
Arthur is a published composer and his compositions include, String Quartet revised 2001; “Everyone Sang” a Cantata for Soprano Soloist, Chorus and large orchestra; “Anthenian Woods” Trio for Flute, Violoncello and Piano; “Twin Spires” a Choral Fantasy for Orchestra and Choir; “Golden Rules” a dance suite for chamber orchestra.
Sarah Watts. Sarah studied bassoon and piano at the Royal College of Music and also plays flute and saxophone.
She has become well known in this country and abroad as a prolific composer. In her early years she was influenced by the Dankworth Allmusic Philosophy and now plays a big part in encouraging this broadminded musical thinking as Artistic Director of the National Youth Music Camps.
Much of Sarah’s time is spent as a composer.
Her published works include the popular Razzamajazz series, The Red Hot Recorder Tutor books for the classroom, the Class Act books for the Wider Opportunity Scheme and several musicals and choral works all published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd. She has received a number of commissions including a work premiered at The Schools Prom, has works in all the major exam syllabuses and has written for the Associated Board Music Medals. She leads teaching workshops and inset days here and in America.
Sarah has a passion for encouraging people to enjoy music. She is an adjudicator for the National and International Federation of Festivals, Music for Youth, and has been on a number of education steering groups including that of the Jazz Development Council.
Kathryn Parry read music at Selwyn College, Cambridge and studied the violin with Howard Davis at the Royal Academy of Music where she won several prizes for chamber music and was awarded the prestigious Dip RAM for ensemble playing. She has performed chamber music in recitals for music clubs and festivals worldwide, as well as playing with several London orchestras, including the Academy of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London Mozart Players and City of London Sinfonia. Kathryn was a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, then joined the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and for eight years lived in Edinburgh with her husband and three children. She has appeared as leader of the Edinburgh Quartet, and the Scottish-based Quartet Dom, and is a frequent guest of the Hebrides Ensemble and Britten Sinfonia. Kathryn plays regularly with several period instrument ensembles, including La Serenissima, London Handel Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and has recently joined the Revolutionary Drawing Room string quartet. She teaches violin and viola at St. Paul’s School in London and Ipswich School in Suffolk.
Arthur Robson, M.Mus, B.Ed (Hons), LRAM, ATCL. Arthur Robson is Principal Lecturer in Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Chichester where he teaches Composition and Choral work and runs a number of choirs. He has just developed a Masters Level course in Choral Studies. He has a wide range of choral experience, both in the mixed voice and upper voices traditions. Whilst teaching in secondary schools he ran girls’ choirs and the West Sussex Boys’ Choir. Over the years he has worked regularly abroad with other choirs and conductors and his travels have taken him to Hungary, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Belgium, Holland, Iceland and America. He works tirelessly to enthuse all his students to enjoy the experience of singing, and sincerely believes that choral singing is vital to happiness and health. With this in mind he regularly runs Singing Days for amateur enthusiasts so they can experience the joy of singing together.
Arthur is a published composer and his compositions include, String Quartet revised 2001; “Everyone Sang” a Cantata for Soprano Soloist, Chorus and large orchestra; “Anthenian Woods” Trio for Flute, Violoncello and Piano; “Twin Spires” a Choral Fantasy for Orchestra and Choir; “Golden Rules” a dance suite for chamber orchestra.
Sarah Watts. Sarah studied bassoon and piano at the Royal College of Music and also plays flute and saxophone.
She has become well known in this country and abroad as a prolific composer. In her early years she was influenced by the Dankworth Allmusic Philosophy and now plays a big part in encouraging this broadminded musical thinking as Artistic Director of the National Youth Music Camps.
Much of Sarah’s time is spent as a composer.
Her published works include the popular Razzamajazz series, The Red Hot Recorder Tutor books for the classroom, the Class Act books for the Wider Opportunity Scheme and several musicals and choral works all published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd. She has received a number of commissions including a work premiered at The Schools Prom, has works in all the major exam syllabuses and has written for the Associated Board Music Medals. She leads teaching workshops and inset days here and in America.
Sarah has a passion for encouraging people to enjoy music. She is an adjudicator for the National and International Federation of Festivals, Music for Youth, and has been on a number of education steering groups including that of the Jazz Development Council.
Sarah Baldock took up the post of Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chichester Cathedral in April 2008. She was previously Assistant Director of Music at Winchester Cathedral where she accompanied the Choir in daily services, tours, broadcasts and recordings. She founded the Winchester Cathedral Girls’ Choir in 1998, and was its Director until 2008. She has directed choral workshops in the UK, USA, Norway and Sweden and is a Patron of the Newcastle Cathedral Girls’ Choir, and a regular Director of the Girl Chorister Course at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, New York.
Adult Singing - Penny Jenkins
Brass - David Bruce-Payne
Choral Singing- Arthur Robson, M.Mus, B.Ed(Hons), LRAM, ATCL
Church Choirs- Sarah Baldock
Composition - Arthur Robson, M.Mus, B.Ed(Hons), LRAM, ATCL
Guitars - Graham Devine and Paul Gregory
Junior Singing - Neil Jenkins
Orchestras, Bands - David Bruce-Payne
Pianoforte - Ruth Gerald
Recorders - Rachel Gregory
Strings - Kathryn Parry
Woodwind - Sarah Watts
Speech & Drama - Rosie Leefe