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Ben Sawyer has an enviable reputation as a dynamic choral conductor and vocal teacher. Since leaving teaching in 2012, he has built up a busy schedule conducting a number of choirs on a regular basis. He has been director of The Oriel Singers since February 2015, having led Tyndale Choral Society since 2013 and, until recently, Hanley Voices. Ben was Chorus Master for Gloucestershire Music’s Massed Chorus of 500 students which performed at the Royal Albert Hall in the ‘Music For Youth’ in November 2012, a project which led to him being a founder conductor of Gloucestershire Youth Choir. Ben was also Assistant Conductor for Cheltenham Festival’s production of Benjamin Britten’s community opera, ‘Noye’s Fludde’ in July 2013.
In June 2018, Ben directed a collaborative project involving musicians from around Gloucestershire in a performance of Jonathan Dove's evocative 'For An Unknown Soldier'. The performance featured The Oriel Singers, The Saint Cecilia Singers, Cheltenham Youth Choir and Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra, with James Gilchrist taking the tenor solo.
In July 2019, Ben conducted 'The Burning Boy' by Stephen McNeff. This community opera was part of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival and took place in Tewkesbury Abbey. Also at that festival, Ben directed the Oriel Singers in a programme based on texts from the 'Rig Veda'. The concert was shared with a group of Vedic chanters from London, and aside from Gustav Holst's Choral Hymn No.3, featured music exclusively by women composers, including Jean Coulthard, Anna R Matthews, Sally Lamb McCune and Roxanna Panufnik.
Ben was awarded the Joyner Cup in 2019 for his 'outstanding contribution to the cultural life of Cheltenham' by the Cheltenham Arts Council.
Ben leads popular workshops and masterclasses, complimented for his good-humoured, informative and efficient sessions, including at the UK Choir Festival and Voice Festival UK. Recently he worked with the Stuart Overington, Director of the Halle Youth Choir, Manchester on a 'Boys Sing' event, engaging around 100 boys with choral singing.
Through the pandemic, Ben continued to run his choirs via Zoom. He is a member of the 'Project Get Singing' team, a group that championed singers and campaigned for the return of live singing and ways to bring people together through periods of restriction.
In June 2018, Ben directed a collaborative project involving musicians from around Gloucestershire in a performance of Jonathan Dove's evocative 'For An Unknown Soldier'. The performance featured The Oriel Singers, The Saint Cecilia Singers, Cheltenham Youth Choir and Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra, with James Gilchrist taking the tenor solo.
In July 2019, Ben conducted 'The Burning Boy' by Stephen McNeff. This community opera was part of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival and took place in Tewkesbury Abbey. Also at that festival, Ben directed the Oriel Singers in a programme based on texts from the 'Rig Veda'. The concert was shared with a group of Vedic chanters from London, and aside from Gustav Holst's Choral Hymn No.3, featured music exclusively by women composers, including Jean Coulthard, Anna R Matthews, Sally Lamb McCune and Roxanna Panufnik.
Ben was awarded the Joyner Cup in 2019 for his 'outstanding contribution to the cultural life of Cheltenham' by the Cheltenham Arts Council.
Ben leads popular workshops and masterclasses, complimented for his good-humoured, informative and efficient sessions, including at the UK Choir Festival and Voice Festival UK. Recently he worked with the Stuart Overington, Director of the Halle Youth Choir, Manchester on a 'Boys Sing' event, engaging around 100 boys with choral singing.
Through the pandemic, Ben continued to run his choirs via Zoom. He is a member of the 'Project Get Singing' team, a group that championed singers and campaigned for the return of live singing and ways to bring people together through periods of restriction.