Our director

Graham Caldbeck - Musical Director

Graham Caldbeck has directed Nonsuch Singers since 1996 and is one of Britain’s leading conductors of amateur choirs, known for his innovative programming and vital and stylish performances.

Choral music has been an important part of Graham's life since he became a choirboy at the age of eight. Following his first appointment as an organist and choirmaster at the age of fifteen, he went on to read music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a Choral Scholar under Richard Marlow. Graham sang with Guildford Cathedral Choir under Barry Rose, and with Winchester Cathedral Choir under Martin Neary and David Hill. He holds both the Fellowship and Choir Training diplomas of the Royal College of Organists and is a former Assistant Organist at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. Between 1984 and 1999 Graham was conductor of the Winchester-based chamber choir, Southern Voices, which he co-founded and rapidly established as one of the leading choirs in the area. Since 1990 he has conducted the Somerset Chamber Choir, which in 2004 celebrated its twentieth anniversary in a sell-out concert in Wells Cathedral. His work as a guest conductor includes preparing three Hampshire choirs for a 1993 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra recording of works by Delius, conducted by Richard Hickox, which won a Gramophone award for Best Choral Recording.

As a choral conductor, Graham has specialised in music of the Renaissance, Baroque and twentieth century. He has conducted orchestras and ensembles led by such eminent period instrumentalists as Theresa Caudle, Adrian Chandler and Jeremy West and given concerts with many of the UK's leading singers. As part of his strong commitment to twentieth-century music, Graham has conducted a number of contemporary choral works in the presence of the composers, including pieces by Howard Blake, Philip Cannon, Jonathan Dove, Joseph Horovitz, Martin Read, Timothy Salter, Sir John Tavener, Diana Burrell, Roxanna Panufnik and Judith Weir. Over the past 30 years Graham’s own small-scale choral works have been performed at well-known venues in London, Cambridge, Somerset and elsewhere, as well as in the cathedrals of Manchester, Ripon, Winchester and Worcester. A number have been broadcast on radio.

Between 1989 and 2004 Graham held posts including Head of Undergraduate Studies and Head of Individual Studies at the Royal College of Music, where he also conducted a number of choirs and was an examiner in both practical and academic areas. He also held a five-year appointment as External Examiner for the BMus course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He is currently Director of Music at St Mary the Boltons, SW10 and conductor of the Mayfield Festival Choir in Sussex, and pursues a varied freelance musical career as a conductor, organist, vocal coach and teacher.


Last updated August 2006