John Chillingworth – Conductor
John Chillingworth joined Lexden Choral Society as conductor in September 2013. He brings enthusiasm and fun with a great attention to detail, and is very popular with members.
I hope to make singing fun but rewarding for the members of the choir. We work hard in rehearsals to bring challenging works to performance standard and I believe the members of the choir find the end result is often beyond what they thought they could achieve. This perseverance paid off in their extraordinary invitation to sing at Carnegie Hall, in New York, which is an accolade of which I think they should be extremely proud.
I am a cellist, organist, pianist, instrumental, theory and composition teacher, orchestral and chamber music coach, conductor and arranger.
I studied the cello and organ at the Royal College of Music and later the cello with William Pleeth, teacher of Jacqueline Du Pre. For seven years I was the cellist of the Guadagnini String Quartet performing and broadcasting all over Europe and Canada. I was an Artist-in-Residence at Southampton University followed by two years at Lancaster University. While in the quartet, I was very fortunate to study chamber music with some of the finest musicians in the world. Following the disbanding of the quartet, I became Assistant Principal Cello of the BBC Philharmonic, and for 25 years I was Principal Cellist at English National Opera. I have also worked as a guest principal cellist with many other orchestras, including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Opera North, Northern Philharmonia, London Mozart Players, London Sinfonietta, BBC Welsh Orchestra and Camerata Ireland.
Having decided to leave ENO, I moved to Essex and now am pursuing a varied career as a free-lance cellist, a conductor, a teacher of the cello, organ and piano and as an accompanist for recitals and exams. I teach for Essex Music Services at Colchester Royal Grammar School, and at St Joseph’s College in Ipswich, at Ipswich High School, and privately. I now live in a thatched cottage in Suffolk.
I became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the unusually young age of nineteen, was a Diploma examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, work as an adjudicator for Music Festivals, coach at the London Music Colleges and teach young professionals, helping them prepare for auditions or recitals.
In addition to Lexden Choral Society, I was the first conductor of the Essex Youth Choir and Essex Youth Consort, am Music Director of Sudbury Choral Society and conductor of the Southern Symphony Orchestra. My latest project is starting a professional big band.
As a composer, I have had a musical written for primary schools performed by a group of primary schools in Felixstowe, an organ piece performed in the Sunday evening series of organ recitals at St John’s College, Cambridge, a piece for massed strings played by the strings of Essex Young People’s Orchestra and Lexden Choral Society have performed a work for Remembrance weekend; as an arranger, I have had many arrangements performed by a variety of different groups including the Gents of St John’s.
I am married with a selection of children across the ages, from 18 to 38. In the small amount of time left to me when I am not involved in musical activities, I enjoy cycling and cooking, especially Mediterranean cooking and sourdough bread.