Musical Director - Andrew Parnell

An organist and choral director by training and background, Andrew started orchestral conducting in earnest in 1984 when he was appointed Conductor of the St. Albans Symphony Orchestra. Under his direction SASO developed a reputation as a first rate local symphony orchestra mounting up to five varied concerts a year in different venues in the community. A hallmark of his program was the juxtaposition of established classical works with less familiar and unjustly neglected repertoire.

Andrew has established a base in East Anglia, from where he is pursuing a freelance career as conductor, organist and composer. In 2002 he was appointed Conductor of Ely Choral Society and this September takes the post of Principal Conductor of Cambridgeshire Choral Society. He is also a regular guest conductor of Carillon, a St Albans-based chamber choir. During the last three years, he has worked as Acting Assistant Organist in five cathedrals and continues to fulfill many engagements as organ soloist and accompanist. As a church music composer, he keeps as busy as time allows, with works performed in many cathedrals and churches here and abroad, and in the catalogues of four publishers.

Leader - Ralph Chadwick

Ralph started violin lessons at the age of seven; he joined the North Staffordshire Symphony Orchestra at the age of thirteen. He had the opportunity to play the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in rehearsal under the of John Cope, the founder conductor. His first experience of Leading was with the Youth Orchestra of Stoke-on-Trent.

Ralph spent four years in the Royal Manchester College of Music under the tutelage of Endre Wolf. In 1960 he was appointed Leader of the NSSO, a position which he was to hold for thirty nine years. He has a wide experience of the orchestral repertoire including many demanding solos, including Sheherazade, the Max Bruch violin concerto, Beethoven Romance in F, Bach violin concertos, Mozart concertos, Dvorak’s Romance and numerous solos within the orchestral works.

His professional career was as Head of Department in a large comprehensive school, teaching all levels up to A level.

Patron - Nicholas Daniel

We are delighted to have such a distinguished internationally renowned musician as our Patron.

At the age of 18 Nick won the BBC's prestigious Young Musician of the Year Competition. Since then he has been heard in recital on almost every continent, and has been a concerto soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Netherlands and Bavarian Radio Orchestras. He has been a guest artist with every BBC orchestra and has appeared several times at the BBC Proms. Nick co-founded Britten Sinfonia as Principal Oboe and regularly appears as soloist and director with them. He is also a founding member of the Haffner Wind Ensemble, and plays regularly with pianist Julius Drake.

Nick has premiered many works, including such luminaries as Henri Dutilleux, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Sir Michael Tippett, and John Woolrich. Additionally, composers such as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, John Taverner, Oliver Knussen, Michael Berkeley and David Matthews have written pieces especially for him.

President - Adrienne Cleary ARCM

Born in Wiltshire Adrienne has lived in both Suffolk and Norfolk. She studied at the Royal College of Music and for all her working life she has been teaching piano and recorder privately and at Old Hall School, Hethersett, and Wymondham College in Norfolk. She was a founder member of the Friends of Norfolk Youth Music (FONYM), running workshops for young musicians, and is frequently invited to be a guest conductor of the Norfolk Recorder Society.

She founded the Wymondham Symphony Orchestra in 1984 and has kept busy behind the scenes not only as secretary for the first ten years and then its President. She is also an active member of the orchestra playing piano, celeste and percussion.