Easingwold Singers

Easingwold Singers The Easingwold Singers is a friendly mixed voice choral society based in the picturesque Georgian market town of Easingwold, near York.

The Easingwold Singers is a friendly mixed voice choral society based in the picturesque Georgian market town of Easingwold, near York, with members from both the town and the surrounding area. The choir consists of 40-60 singers; sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. We meet every Tuesday evening for rehearsals from 7.30 until 9.30 pm from September until May to rehearse for two concerts per year, usually performed in December and May.

Tim Harper and Cerys MacAllister, this photo taken after our concert on Saturday. Tim's piano accompaniment was superb ...
18/05/2026

Tim Harper and Cerys MacAllister, this photo taken after our concert on Saturday. Tim's piano accompaniment was superb and Cerys stunned us with her beautiful soprano voice. We're already looking forward to our next term in September, more of which to follow later.

Just a few days to go before our performance of Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony at St Oswald's church in Sowerby, Thir...
14/05/2026

Just a few days to go before our performance of Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony at St Oswald's church in Sowerby, Thirsk. This is the bio of our Musical Director Edward Venn but frankly we just know him as Ed, the man at the front who keeps us in order with a hefty dose of humour. Seriously, Ed has worked hard and encouraged us to sing better than we thought we could.

Edward Venn studied Music at the University of Birmingham. After completing his PhD, Edward joined the Music Department at Lancaster University as a Lecturer in Music, where his responsibilities included the direction of the department Chamber Orchestra and New Music Ensemble. Whilst at Lancaster, he began private conducting lessons with Ed Warren, and in 2003 was awarded an LRSM in Directing (Chamber Orchestra).

During his time at Lancaster, he also conducted local choirs and new music groups, his repertoire ranging from small chamber ensembles through to works for choir and orchestra; he also conducted performances of Holst’s opera Savitri. After taking on increasing choral duties, he studied with Peter Broadbent and passed (with Distinction) the Intermediate Level Choral directing qualification with the Association of British Choral Conductors in 2011.

In 2013, Edward joined the University of Leeds. Amongst other teaching, research and administrative duties, he has conducted the School Chamber Orchestra and has contributed to performance teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He was appointed Professor there in 2020, and in 2022-23 was the Academic-in-Residence at Opera North, Leeds.

Getting ready at St Oswald's for our final rehearsal before the big day
13/05/2026

Getting ready at St Oswald's for our final rehearsal before the big day

We're delighted to welcome Tim Harper as our accompanist once again for our concert on the 16th at St Oswald's in Sowerb...
11/05/2026

We're delighted to welcome Tim Harper as our accompanist once again for our concert on the 16th at St Oswald's in Sowerby. Tim has been Assistant Director of Music at Ripon Cathedral since September 2014. He trained as organ scholar successively at St Barnabas Church, Dulwich, Clare College, Cambridge, Canterbury Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral; as a pupil of David Sanger, he gained the major prizes at ARCO and FRCO and was subsequently awarded the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
In 2010 he was appointed Assistant Director of Music at Birmingham Cathedral. During these years, he appeared with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Ex Cathedra and the Birmingham Bach Choir.
Alongside his cathedral duties, he enjoys recital, accompanying and continuo work; he is also accompanist to Ripon Choral Society and the early music course NORVIS. An interest in jazz keeps his improvisational instincts exercised, while also finding employment in settings as diverse as boat, restaurant, funeral, Spain, Harrogate, organ recitals, and jazz Eucharists at St Paul’s Cathedral. In 2016 he developed an interest in transcription through his arrangement of A Colour Symphony by Arthur Bliss, while in 2020 he ventured into YouTube online recitals with his Six Sixes series from Ripon Cathedral.

We're very pleased that, once again, John Dunford is joining us as baritone in our May concert - Vaughan Williams's A S...
07/05/2026

We're very pleased that, once again, John Dunford is joining us as baritone in our May concert - Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony.

John’s musical career began as a treble in Birmingham Parish Church. He went on to study organ, singing and conducting at Trinity College of Music, becoming Senior Student and winning the conducting prize. His teaching career has been devoted to running the music departments in four independent schools while engaging in as much professional music making as possible.

One of John’s trademarks is his vocal dexterity. John began to train as a countertenor at Music College, before changing to develop his baritone voice and it is as a baritone or tenor soloist that he is most widely known. He describes himself as a ‘National Health Baritone’! He sang with the professional choir at St Martin in the Fields and later as a lay clerk at Ripon Cathedral.

Strong links with Sheffield Bach Choir, Sheffield Oratorio Chorus, Doncaster Choral Society and North Yorkshire Chorus have resulted in solo engagements through much of the Baroque and Classical repertoire. He is well-known for his rendition of the tenor solo in Carmina Burana including performances in Ely Cathedral, Harrogate Conference Centre, Sheffield Cathedral, Harrogate’s Royal Hall and Leeds Town Hall.

John’s wider professional work has taken him to an International Music Festival in Rome where he worked with Arthur Oldham and Claudio Abbado. Having held a number of posts as Organist and Choirmaster he enjoyed a short period in charge of music at Sheffield Cathedral and in retirement has given over 30 organ recitals.

In 2017 John retired from full-time teaching, continuing until 2023 as a peripatetic teacher of singing and piano at Cundall Manor School. It is, perhaps, as conductor of the 160 strong Ripon Choral Society since 1998 and the 110 strong Wetherby Choral Society, from which he retired last summer after 32 years, for which John is most well-known.

Come and join us at St Oswalds on 16th May at 7pm
07/05/2026

Come and join us at St Oswalds on 16th May at 7pm

We are delighted to welcome Cerys MacAllister as our Soprano soloist for our forthcoming concert on May 16th. Cerys is ...
05/05/2026

We are delighted to welcome Cerys MacAllister as our Soprano soloist for our forthcoming concert on May 16th. Cerys is an award-winning soprano from Ireland. She graduated with a first-class honours from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. Cerys is also a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London. During her time at RAM, she was selected to be part of the Song Circle and the Preparatory Opera.In 2025, Cerys won the Birr Lions Bursary in the Trench Award at the Birr Festival of Music. In 2020/21, she was a finalist for the Veronica Dunne International Singing Bursary and also a finalist in the Glenarm Festival of Voice. She is a multi-award winner at the Feis Ceoil and won the Song Prize in RIAM’s Irene Sandford Competition.

Cerys has participated in various operas at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, including Banished by Stephen McNeff, La Liberazione di Ruggiero by Francesca Caccini, the international debut of DreamCatcher by Kevin O'Connell. At the Royal Academy of Music, she covered the role of Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze, di Figaro and performed as the First Bridesmaid. In 2023 she made her professional debut as the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel for HGO, and in 2025, her debut at Wexford Festival Opera, performing the role of Modestina on the main stage at the National Opera House in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims. She performed the role of Ceresita in Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg and joined the chorus for The Magic Mountain by Delius and La Trouvère by Verdi. Most recently she performed as Fata Morgana in Prokoviev’s L’Amour des Trois Oranges at The RNCM.

She was selected as a Leeds Lieder Young Artist in 2024, and in 2025, she was chosen as a Camerata Young Artist, performing at the Clandeboye Estate.

Cerys has performed at prestigious venues such as the National Museum of Ireland, the RDS, the National Concert Hall Dublin, the Italian Cultural Institute, The Firs – Elgar’s Birthplace, Leeds Minster, the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building in Oxford, and St James’s Piccadilly. Last year, she was invited to perform at the Il Serchio Delle Muse Festival in Barga, Italy, alongside renowned baritone Bruno Caproni.

Behold the sea itself.... We're taking a well earned break from rehearsals for Easter, although I'm sure many of us are ...
06/04/2026

Behold the sea itself....
We're taking a well earned break from rehearsals for Easter, although I'm sure many of us are blasting this out quite often!
Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony, St Oswald's church, Sowerby. 16th May - save the date!

Our Spring concert will be held at beautiful St Oswald's church in Sowerby on May 16th. We're working hard on Vaughan W...
23/02/2026

Our Spring concert will be held at beautiful St Oswald's church in Sowerby on May 16th. We're working hard on Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony - not an easy piece, but worth the effort!

It's early days, but we're really enjoying A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams. May seems such a long way away, bu...
02/02/2026

It's early days, but we're really enjoying A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams. May seems such a long way away, but we know from experience concert day soon comes round!

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