Dartington ChoralFest 2025

Recognised as one of the UK’s leading conductors, Gavin Carr specialises in working with major symphony choruses and orchestras to bring the best of the great British choral tradition to music old and new. He conducts the major choral-orchestral repertoire and is at the forefront of promoting new works, with many notable premieres under his belt. Conductor of the celebrated Philharmonia Chorus, the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and of Bath Minerva Choir, and Founder-Director of Chorus Angelorum, he has led these ensembles to international acclaim with a number of world-premiere recordings, regular International tours, and a host of innovative programmes. 

Victoria Simmonds studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and became a company principal at English National Opera from 2000 to 2005.  Recent and future operatic commitments include Fox / The Cunning Little Vixen and Meg Page / Falstaff for Garsington Opera, Through His Teeth, a new commission by Luke Bedford for Royal Opera House, Mad Hatter and Alice’s Mother/ Alice in Wonderland, Minsk Woman in Jonathan Dove’s Flight, Angelina/Cenerentola, Donna Elvira / Don Giovanni,  Marcellina / Le nozze di Figaro,  Mother / Little Women and Watkins in the new opera Itch for Opera Holland Park. 

Andrew Rees gained a scholarship to study at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and completed his studies on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. He was a Jerwood Young Artist at English National Opera and later became a principal tenor at the company.  Current engagements include Vladimir Igoryevich in Prince Igor for Chelsea Opera Group, Laca in Jenufa for Grange Park Opera, Melot in Tristan und Isolde at the Dutch National Opera and the Rome Opera, and Jimmy Mahoney in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. 

Michael Pugh is a multifaceted British pianist, vocal coach, and educator whose artistry and international collaborations have earned him widespread recognition. His formal training began at the Royal Academy of Music under Alexander Kelly and continued at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with Phillip Jenkins. Awarded the prestigious Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship—twice—he went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Graham Johnson and the late Paul Hamburger. Further scholarships from the British Council and the Caird Foundation enabled advanced studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and the Tchaikovsky State Conservatoire in Moscow with Lev Naumov, followed by private study with Vladimir Ashkenazy.