Our conductor is Oliver Tarney.
Oliver grew up in Lancaster, where he was educated before going on to read Music at the University of Manchester. He later completed a Master's degree in composition and trained as a teacher. He is currently Assistant Director of Music at Tiffin School, Kingston, having previously served as Head of Academic Music and Composition at Winchester College, Hampshire.
His recent works are published by Oxford University Press, including Missa Media Nocte and The Wise Men and the Star, which has recently been recorded by The Sixteen. Other notable pieces include Lux Stellarum, a requiem written for the American Cathedral in Paris and first performed at St Sulpice, later released on Convivium Records with the Choir of Royal Holloway University; Majora Canamus, composed for the Southern Cathedrals' Festival in Winchester and broadcast on BBC Radio 3; and A Prayer of St Richard of Chichester, written for the award-winning Sansara Chamber Choir, with whom he is an associate composer. This work appears on their acclaimed Convivium Records album Cloths of Heaven.
In 2019, Tarney's St Mark Passion was premiered at the St Endellion Easter Festival. His Magnificat (2014) has been recorded by Serafine Chamber Choir & Sinfonia, also on Convivium Records, to wide critical acclaim. Other recordings include Maria Virgo assumpta est for Suzi Digby's ORA Singers, and three Christmas works (The Waiting Sky, Balulalow, and The Wise Men and the Star), recorded by Sansara for their album The Waiting Sky.Further commissions include a piece for Sonoro Chamber Choir's Choral Inspirations series, and the Festival Commission for the 2020 St David's Cathedral Festival.
Oliver has also worked extensively with Sing for Pleasure, the national choral organisation dedicated to promoting singing in communities, choirs, and classrooms. He remains deeply committed to inspiring others to discover and share a love of singing.
