LSO Discovery Choirs
Sing Stars: You Raise Me Up!
Monday 28 March 2022
Welcome
Whether they sing because it makes them feel happy, to blow off steam, to relax or escape to another place, all our singers share a love of singing. Some of our members have been singing with the LSO Discovery Choirs for nearly nine years, coming up through the Junior Choir to Senior Choir, and others have joined us in the past few years. Many are involved in music making outside of the LSO – from bands to school choirs, instrumental lessons to musical theatre schools. Some think of singing as their secret talent and some sing regularly with family and friends and in their communities. One of this evenings soloists, Kitty, describes a shared opinion that 'with no rules to making music, it is the most creative way of expressing your emotions and to feel part of a group that understands what you are feeling'. And another of our soloists, Robyn, describes music as being able to make you feel almost like you are somewhere else, like the feeling you get when reading a book!
All of the soloists featured this evening are members of our Senior choir. They themselves put forward their song choices and have worked independently and with our vocal coach Georgi Mottram, and Steve Lodder, exploring how to bring these songs to life on our stage. We are so proud of each of them and look forward to hearing their performances.
We are also delighted to have three of our Senior Choir members presenting tonight, who worked together and with soloists to devise the script. Huge thanks to them for guiding us through the concert.
All of our singers tonight have worked hard each week over the term to put on a great show for us all tonight! A big congratulations to each and every singer.
With thanks also to the team at LSO St Luke’s, to our regular pianists Liz Burley and Jo Smith, our weekly chaperones Izzy and Sahil, and everyone else whose work supports and facilitates the running of our choirs.
Programme & Performers
Love My Life
Believer
7 Years
Ray of Sunlight
We’re the Same (Sisi Ni Sawa)
When She Loved Me
(They Long to Be) Close To You
Lean On Me
I Got Rhythm
Something Inside So Strong
Best Friend
With a Little Help From My Friends
Count on Me
For Good
You Raise Me Up
Lucy Hollins conductor
David Lawrence conductor
Joshua, Evie & Macy presenters
Lorenzo, Robyn, Olivia, Caitlin, Kitty, Poppy, Killian & Tiffany soloists
LSO Discovery Junior Choir
LSO Discovery Senior Choir
Massimo Martone percussion
John Whatcroft electric guitar
Rob Statham bass guitar
Steve Lodder piano & keyboard
LSO Discovery Choirs
The LSO Discovery Choir is a dynamic youth choir made up of young people aged 8 to 18 years, that performs in top London concert venues with musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra. The Junior Choir is conducted by Lucy Griffiths, and the Senior Choir is conducted by David Lawrence.
The choirs meet on a weekly basis during term time at LSO St Luke’s. Being part of the LSO Discovery Choir offers the chance for young people to develop their musical and vocal skills, make friends, and perform alongside the world’s greatest professional musicians. After two terms on Zoom, we have been incredibly excited to return to live rehearsals at our LSO St Luke's home.
Formed in 2004 by Gareth Malone, past opportunities have included performing at Windsor Castle for His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, at the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay for Islington Council, and with jazz legend Dave Brubeck. With the LSO the LSO Discovery Choir gave the premiere of Edward Rushton’s oratorio Cicadas as well as, conducted by LSO Music Director Sir Simon Rattle, the UK premieres of Jonathan Dove’s children’s opera The Monster in the Maze (2015) and Andrew Norman's A Trip to the Moon (2017), and the world premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Hogboon (2016).
To find out more, contact us at lso.choirs@lso.co.uk or visit our website.
The LSO Discovery Choir is generously supported by the John S Cohen Foundation.
LSO Discovery Junior Choir
Nina Alcober
Natalia Armstrong-James-Cutino
Catherine Beazer
Tamzin Birhane-Ghetaceu
Aomi Céleste Bontjes van Beek
Elizabeth Burton Spence
Olive Chambers
Noah Compton
Isadora Cookson
Elise Curtis
Ariana Curtis
Sienna Daly-White
Dolly Deakin
Allison Erazo Concha
Francesca Falcioni
Amahra Gill-McQuinn
Natalia Gladstone
Alice Godoy
Amelia Elizabeth Gregus
Colette Gritschke
Jay Gupta-Moreno
Hannah Halil
Pamela Harrison
Paula Head Ilias
Pixie-Leigh Higgins
Jack Hives
Toby Hood
Gabriela Hunt-Montoya
Finn Jackson
Idris Jones
Maya Karabag
Rainy Kinsella
Myles Kirk
Alba Lloyd-Prieto
Katherine McCurdy
Cormac Mellor-Stephenson
Raniyah Nassir-Kumuyi
Susannah Osborne
Liya Khalid Oumer
Lois Parker
Vitoria Ribeiro
Isabel Rodrigues
Alice Scortichini
Margot Scott
Julius Steele-Kendrick
Emma Stougaard-Nielsen
Matilda Suckley
Betsy Thorn
Zara Umenyilora
Gracie Watson O'Brien
Olive Wilson
Elkie Wimpenny Vallance
Olivia Yamakawa
LSO Discovery Senior Choir
Boma Alamina
Tiffany Banyong
Esther Brauner-Cave
Rosa Brennan
Olwen Burton Spence
Robyn Buus Phillipps
Marnie Clark Course
Poppy Dawid
Jessica Debas
Lorenzo Dennis
Martha Denby
James Dungey
Ruben Geithner
Caitlin Heaphy
Molly Heaphy
Hermione Holloway
Niamh Hood
Charlotte Lewington-Shultz
Evie Mary
Hannah McCurdy
Agnes McIntosh
Macy Petters
Isabel Ribeiro
Killian Scortichini
Kitty Sinclair
Olivia Solomou
Sophie Stone Bucher
Astrid Thornton
Maximilian Ticheli
Joshua Umenyilora
Michael Umenyilora
Eben Watson
Caleb Watson
Artist Biographies
Lucy Hollins
LSO Junior Choir Conductor
Lucy Hollins is one of the most respected conductor-animateurs of her generation. Having studied and won several prestigious prizes in the UK and Canada, her leadership experience ranges across vocal and instrumental music-making with professional, amateur, youth and adult ensembles at the very highest level of each. It has seen her appear on TV and radio, premiering new works, adjudicating competitions, touring extensively throughout the UK and internationally, and working alongside some of the world's finest musicians and directors.
Lucy is Assistant Director of Music at the University of Warwick, Conductor of the LSO Discovery Junior Choir and Director of the Royal College of Music Chorus. She is a leading expert in the field of music education and engagement, specialising in vocal outreach. She is also a passionate concert designer and presenter.
David Lawrence
LSO Discovery Senior Choir Conductor
David Lawrence is one of the UK's most versatile conductors, working with orchestras, symphony choruses and national youth choirs. He has conducted in more than 25 countries, including Canada, Colombia, India, Singapore and the US, and has worked regularly in Australia since 2005. David is Choral Advisor to Sinfonia Viva, Associate Conductor of the CBSO Chorus and conductor of the LSO Discovery Senior and Community Choirs. He has worked with most of the UK’s symphony choruses, and for ten years was a regular guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir.
For over twenty years David conducted for BBC’s Songs of Praise, and he is a well known conductor of ‘big sing’ events, such as the 700-voice Spem in Alium he conducted for BBC Four. He has directed large-scale education projects for many of the UK’s orchestras and opera companies, and as Principal Conductor of Young Voices, a position he has held for 22 years, David directs massed choirs in an annual series of concerts, with some choirs incorporating more than 8,000 singers!
Massimo Martone
percussion
John Wheatcroft
electric guitar
John Wheatcroft
John Wheatcroft leads a busy double-life as an artist and an educator. He has performed with artists as diverse as Billy Cobham (Miles Davis), Alex Acuña, John Williams, Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Paco Peña, Mike Clark and Bill Summers (The Headhunters), Carl Verheyen (Supertramp), Ralph Salmins, Keith Carlock and Laurence Cottle. John has toured the world with both Carl Palmer (ELP) and John Jorgenson (Elton John/ Hellecasters) and he is a regular contributor to Guitar Techniques UK, along with contributing numerous lessons for Guitarist UK, Guitar Part (France) and Guitar World (US). His debut solo album, Ensemble Futur, was released in 2015 to rave reviews and its follow-up, First Light, is scheduled for release in 2022.
Rob Statham
bass guitar
Rob Statham
Rob Statham is a professional bass player, writer, arranger, and educator of over twenty five years standing with extensive experience which includes appearing on many albums and broadcasts, and appearances at many prestigious venues throughout the UK, Europe, and beyond.
Rob studied at the Guildhall School of Music before commencing his professional career, since when he has been in demand in many diverse musical areas, from jazz and blues to pop and rock, and appearing with the world renowned Hallé Orchestra in 2007 under the baton of Sir Mark Elder at the Manchester International Festival. He has played and recorded with jazz artists such as John Etheridge and Ian Carr, soul and blues singers and musicians like Ruby Turner, Dick Heckstall-Smith, and Mojo Buford, rock legends such as Keith Emerson, and has also performed with violin virtuoso Nigel Kennedy, renowned jazz singers Ian Shaw and Julie Dexter, acclaimed guitarist Mike Stern, and percussion legend Alex Acuna among many others. He was recently featured in the 2021 London Jazz Festival performing with rising tenor saxophone star Hannah Horton, and appearing on her acclaimed album, Inside Out.
A member of the Performing Rights Society, Rob has had his own compositions recorded and broadcast by various artists, and in 2010 was featured on Radio 3 in a tribute to jazz artist Ian Carr, working with world renowned writer and arranger, Mike Gibbs. He is also an educator and teacher of many years standing, both in a private capacity and, since 2009, as a senior lecturer at the BIMM Institute, an international music school based in west London.
Steve Lodder
piano & keyboard
Steve Lodder
‘Lodder is both an improvisor of originality and a musical thinker of erudition and depth.’ (The Guardian)
Highly regarded sideman for many International and London musicians including Andy Sheppard, Naná Vasconcelos, George Russell’s ‘Living Time’ orchestra, Sarah Jane Morris, John Harle, Carla Bley, Mônica Vasconcelos. He has also been musical associate with Paul McCartney on the ‘Standing Stone’ and ‘Ecce cor meum’ projects, and musical arranger for the Zappatistas. Originally a Cambridge organ scholar he has played church organ on albums with Mark Ramsden and Asaf Sirkis and has written several books, one on Stevie Wonder, one on the Hammond organ and The Keyboard Bible.
Georgi Mottram
vocal coach
Georgi Mottram
After studying classical singing at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Georgi Mottram has performed lead roles on the West End (Adelphi, The Other Palace, Charing Cross Theatre, West End Live) and Off-West End, she has also performed at 54 Below Broadway and on the BBC. She has supported Classical Crossover Stars Russell Watson at The Proms on Thames with the LSO, and most recently on Friday Night is Music Night with John Owen Jones and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Classic Brit Award Nominee Georgi is the director (and sings in) the opera group Ida Girls London. She has produced sell out shows at The Jersey Opera House, The Other Palace and in theatres in Australia.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign Georgi released a critically acclaimed classical Christmas album gaining success in the Classical Charts. Hailed as ‘breathtaking’ by the Sunday Post Georgi has been honoured to perform for Prince Edward at Windsor Castle. As a portfolio musician she also teaches singing, piano, co-writes with film composer Darren J Benjamin, runs a singing agency and is a lecturer at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. For the last few months her projects include releasing an original classical crossover song which hit number one in the Official Classical Charts. Georgi has just made her debut at The London Palladium playing Nimue in Camelot. Georgi was thrilled to be working with the exceptionally conscientious and talented Sing Stars Soloists and wishes them all the best for this wonderful concert.