CHORAL COURSE 2: OXFORD
Sunday 4th August - Sunday 11th August 2024
Fee: £1075* - BURSARIES AVAILABLE
ST EDWARD’S SCHOOL, OXFORD
COURSE VENUE
Ralph Allwood MBE DMus was for 26 years Director of Music at Eton College and is now a freelance choral director, teacher and conductor. He is the Director of the Rodolfus (ex-Eton) Choral Courses, which he founded in 1980. He co-founded the Junior Choral Courses in 2012. Ten thousand 8 to 20 year-olds have since been students on courses. In recent years he has launched courses in Texas, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The Rodolfus choir has produced over 20 CDs since he founded it in 1982.
Ralph is co-founder and conductor of Inner Voices, made up of singers from state schools in London. He was until recently a Supervisor for harmony at Jesus College and Queens’ College, Cambridge, Director of the only conservatoire chapel choir in the world, the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir and an Honorary Fellow of University College, Durham.
Ralph has conducted choirs for over 40 broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. He has composed much music for Extreme Music Ltd, heard worldwide on radio, films and television. He teaches at his old grammar school, Tiffin and is a co-founder of the National Youth Music Theatre.
In 2015 he co-founded the Pimlico Musical Foundation to enable children from Pimlico Primary Schools to sing in choirs, particularly at St Gabriel's Church.
In 2017, the Archbishop of Canterbury presented him with the Thomas Cranmer Award for Music and Worship. He is Chair of the Choral Evensong Trust.
RALPH ALLWOOD
COURSE DIRECTOR
THE TEAM
George was born in Manchester in 2001, and his passion for music was kindled in earnest when he became a chorister at Manchester Cathedral. George spent four years at St John’s College, Cambridge, first as an organ scholar studying Music and German, and latterly as Assistant Organist. In these roles he helped to train the choir, accompanied the choir’s daily sung services, played for numerous album recordings and conducted the annual Advent Carol Service live on BBC Radio 3 in 2021.
He is now a freelance pianist, organist and director, and works as the Assistant Director of Music at His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace as part of a growing freelance career as a pianist, organist and director. As a piano accompanist, he recently recorded a new song cycle by Rodrigo Ruiz with soprano Grace Davidson for Signum Classics. George is a regular organ accompanist with Kantos Chamber Choir and Tenebrae, and in 2023 he won the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition. He works regularly with Pimlico Musical Foundation and Tiffin School as a coach and choir-leader. He is a freelance member of the music staff at English National Opera, recently playing in the ENO orchestra for performances of Britten’s Peter Grimes and Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale.
GEORGE HERBERT
PRINCIPAL ACCOMPANIST
Alicia Carroll (soprano) attended her first Choral Course (directed by Ralph Allwood) when she was 18. It took place at Uppingham School and the whole experience was life changing for her. She made strong musical connections and lifelong friends on the course; many like Alicia have gone on to become professional singers. She is delighted to have been invited onto the Rodolfus Team and looks forward to meeting all the students in August.
After graduating with an academic Music degree she continued her vocal studies with Linda Esther Gray and embarked on a freelance singing career. Alicia quickly established herself as a consort singer specialising in early, baroque and modern music. After singing under the legendary Martindale Sidwell at Hampstead Parish Church she was then appointed to the Choir of St Bride’s, Fleet Street, director Robert Jones. During this time Alicia sang regularly with Polyphony (director Stephen Layton), performed with Jean-Claude Malgoire in France and joined the Gabrieli Consort, directed by Paul McCreesh,. a group she has continued to work with regularly over the last 30 years. She has performed and recorded as a soloist and consort all over the world and was a soloist on the original Polyphony recording of James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words which was nominated for a Mercury Award. She was invited, by the then Prince of Wales (now King Charles) to perform at a private concert for the Queen Mother’s 90th birthday at Buckingham Palace. Alicia’s solo singing in Bach’s Magnificat with English Concert was highlighted in BBC Radio 4’s Pick of the Week. Alicia was one of the ensemble for the dramatised performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion directed by Jonathan Miller which was filmed for TV and then toured Europe. She has worked with the Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, the Orchestra of Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music, Cardinal’s Musick and the London Handel Singers directed by Laurence Cummings. Alicia also sings regularly with London Voices directed by Ben Parry and sings with them at Abbey Road Studios on numerous soundtracks for films, TV shows. Adverts and Video Games. Alicia also has been a fixer for the Gabrieli Consort, English Concert and London Handel Festival.
As well as her singing career Alicia is highly regarded as a singing teacher. Whilst in London she worked on educational projects with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and then when she moved West with her family to Bath she took on the role of singing teacher at Prior Park College, quickly falling into this role with her combination of musical and pastoral skills. She dovetails her teaching with her freelance singing, and during her 15 years at Prior Park she produced and directed 5 operas: Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro (twice) and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Alicia also teaches at Downside Abbey School as well as many of the girl and boy choristers at Bath Abbey, who come from a variety of local state and private schools. Alicia also organises masterclasses for her students with internationally renowned musicians such as James Gilchrist, Neal Davies, Laurence Cummings and Roderick Williams - Roddy and Alicia met on the Uppingham Choral Course when they were 18!
Alicia is passionate about her teaching and understands the cognitive advantages singing brings to all students. While many of her students have gone on to become choral scholars at Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Royal Holloway University and King’s College London, as well as scholarships to Royal Academy of Music, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Trinity Laban and Royal Northern College of Music, she has a wide range of students some of whom do not read music. Alicia works to develop their confidence and aural and reading skills and enjoys seeing their self-confidence grow through their singing. She worked with Ben Parry as a mentor for National Youth Choir (18-22 year old) and has a close association with many of the Directors of music at the Oxbridge Colleges as well as King’s London and Royal Holloway.
Alicia is really looking forward to meeting everyone in Oxford.
ALICA CARROLL
SINGING TEACHER
Carys was educated at the Purcell school and then at the Royal Academy of music, initially studying the flute, but changed course to singing at post-graduate level.
Having graduated, her early career was spent specialising in historically informed performance of early music and ensemble singing. She recorded and performed with nearly all the major professional ensembles and choirs in Britain including The Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, I Fagiolini, The Cardinal’s Musicke and The Gabrieli Consort.
Since then Carys has changed the focus of her career to coaching and teaching. She has taught at Eton college and Harrow school and was a vocal consultant for the London’s Symphony Chorus for 5 years.
She is now based in Oxford and teaches choral scholars at Magdalen, Merton and Queen’s colleges as well as offering lessons and classes across the university. She has also held coaching residencies at the university of Perth Australia, the University of Vermont, and Dartington summer schools, and has taught for the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain since 2007.
She is the vocal consultant for the Oxford Bach Choir, Merton Girls Choir, and works with The Martlet Ensemble, a professional small vocal ensemble whose remit is to coach and perform with students at University College. Most recently, she has started a Community Choir at Univ, with the aim of bringing a broad range of students and staff together through singing.
CARYS LANE
SINGING TEACHER
Giles Underwood (bass-baritone) is a versatile singer, teacher and conductor. His musical journey began as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, and after leaving Magdalen College, Oxford, with a degree in Biology, he went on to study on the postgraduate and opera courses at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD) under Professor Susan McCulloch. In 2016 he was appointed Professor of Singing at The Royal Academy of Music, having previously held a professorship at GSMD.
His career has included many major operatic roles including Don Giovanni, Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), Count Almaviva (Le Nozze Di Figaro), Tarquinius (The Rape of Lucretia) and Marcello (La Bohème). He has sung in concert all over the world, and has recorded widely, both as a soloist and in vocal ensembles.
Giles is Director of Music at University College, Oxford (Univ), where he conducts the Chapel Choir and directs The Martlet Ensemble and Martlet Voices, Univ’s two professional ensembles in residence.
He attended an Eton Choral Course (as it was then) in 1991, joined the Rodolfus Choir the same year, and began staffing as housemaster in 1995. He ‘graduated’ to Singing Teacher in 2000 and has taught on the courses every year since apart from 2020 when the courses were one of the many casualties of the pandemic.
GILES UNDERWOOD
SINGING TEACHER
MASTERCLASSES & WORKSHOPS
Will Dawes is Director of Chapel Music of Somerville College, Oxford, Conductor of the Burford Singers, Director of Music at the church of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford, and the former Director of Frideswide Voices (Oxford’s first liturgical choir for 7-14 year-old girls, which became part of the Choral Foundation at Christ Church Cathedral in September). He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where he studied Choral Conducting and Singing. He has directed numerous excellent choral societies and chamber choirs across the UK and his work has also taken him to cities across the globe, including Auckland, Ghent, Jerusalem, Mumbai, Portland OR, and Shenzhen. For 16 years, Will was a member of the internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble Stile Antico. The group performs all over the globe, including concerts in the Wigmore Hall and at the BBC Proms, and have recently made their debut in South America, South Korea, as well as performing at the 2018 GRAMMY Ceremony in Madison Square Garden, New York. He is a former Lay Clerk of Christ Church, Oxford, and has sung with The Sixteen, Collegium Vocale Gent, The Eric Whitacre Singers, and Polyphony. He was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in March 2018.
WILL DAWES
CHORAL WORKSHOP
Andrew Staples stands as a versa4le ar4st of our era. He combines a busy schedule as an opera and concert singer with a career as a film and stage director and photographer. To all his crea4ve output, Andrew brings a collabora4ve approach and a passion to tell beFer stories that build connec4ons between ar4sts and audiences.
A mul&faceted musician
As a dis4nguished tenor, he has collaborated with such as Sir Simon RaFle, Daniel Harding, Emmanuelle Haïm, Elim Chan, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Andrew Davis, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with renowned orchestras such as Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, RoFerdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, among others.
On the opera stage
Staples made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Fidelio (Jacquino), returning for Capriccio (Flamand), Die Zauberflöte (Tamino), Katya Kabanova (Tichon) and Salome (Narraboth). Last year he made his debut with BriFen’s Peter Grimes (Peter) at the Teatro La Fenice and his Berliner Staatsoper debut with the 4tle role in Mozart’s Idomeneo. Staples has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, the Na4onal Theatre Prague, La Monnaie Brussels, the Salzburger Festspiele, Hamburg Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, the Lucerne Fes4val, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
An&cipated Engagements
In the 2023/24 season Andrew will work with Orchestre de Paris, Gürzenich Orchester, San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony and Valencia Orchestra. In spring 2024, he will tour some of Europe’s most pres4gious venues with Les Siècles conducted by Francois-Xavier Roth performing and recording Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. He will be part of mul4ple opera-in-concert series for Mozart’s Idomeneo (4tle role) with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon RaFle, Beethoven’s Fidelio (Florestan) with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel and Strauss’ Ariadne (Bacchus) with the Budapest Fes4val Orchestra with Ivan Fischer.
A vision beyond the voice
Andrew’s crea4ve output extends beyond singing. He is cri4cally acclaimed as a film and stage director and photographer. With a passion for weaving art, music, and digital realms, his projects encapsulate the beauty of classical music and broader arts. His recent output includes direc4ng music films for Voces8, the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Platoon (Apple) and Arcangelo. He has made documentary music films for Gabrieli Roar and the Phoenix Chorale. He directed a special performance of Stravinsky’s Firebird for Air France in an aircrai hangar in Charles de Gaulle airport in collabora4on with Arte, Daniel Harding and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. During lockdown he directed a for-screen live performance of Don Giovanni from Berwaldhallen in Stockholm. Upcoming plans include Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with Alice Sara OF for DG Stage+ and a film of The Planets for the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
ANDREW STAPLES
VOCAL MASTERCLASS
Imogen comes from a musical family so found her passion for performing at an early age. Now a freelance singer in London, she has experience singing in all styles from jazz to choral to musical theatre. Growing up she took part in choral courses, attended the Royal Academy of Music, was a member of Aldeburgh Young Musicians, and was in the cast of National Youth Music Theatre’s production of The Hired Man in 2014. While studying at the University of Glasgow she played lead roles in plays and musicals including The Last Five Years, Titanic the musical, Urinetown, and while abroad at Boston College in the USA was in Spring Awakening and Evita. In 2018, Imogen joined the Grammy Award-winning vocal group, The Swingles. Touring internationally, The Swingles perform a cappella, classical and original music in the world’s most prestigious venues. Imogen is also a recording artist and session singer for film soundtracks, TV, video games, adverts and sings live backing vocals.
IMOGEN PARRY
CONSORT WORKSHOP
ANITA MORRISON
FELDENKRAIS
EVENSONGS
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BURSARIES
The Rodolfus Foundation offers generous bursaries to help with the costs of our courses. You can apply for a bursary as part of the online application process, and all details provided will treated confidentially.
REFERENCES
As part of your application, we request a brief reference from a singing or music teacher. Please note that this reference does not impact your acceptance onto the course. Its purpose is solely to provide our directors and singing teachers with some additional insight about you and your musical experience so far. Please be aware that references are only accepted through our online portal.
AGE RANGE
To attend this course, you must be in year 11 or above and between the ages of 16 and 21 as of 31st August 2024.
UPDATE 11TH JANUARY 2024
This course now has limited places for sopranos. Please contact Helen on helen@therodolfusfoundation.com to find out how to join the waiting list or for information about the other courses.
UPDATE 4TH APRIL 2024
This course now has limited places for ALL voices except TENORS. Please contact Helen on helen@therodolfusfoundation.com to find out how to join the waiting list or for information about the other courses.
*INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS: We can only take payments for international applicants through Stripe this year. Course fees will have an approximately 3% card processing fee.