Music Department
Organist and Director of Music
George de Voil MA (Oxon.) FRCO
George de Voil’s reputation as a conductor took off in 2014 when he made the world première recording of Stanford’s Mass in G, Op. 46. The disc, on which he directed choral and orchestral forces, was praised by BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone, and led to George being named a Classic FM “Young Artist to Watch”. MusicWeb International praised his “stylish” direction, calling his recording of Parry’s Songs of Farewell “exciting and full of conviction”, while Martin Bird declared in the Elgar Society Journal, “George de Voil is something of a find… He may be young, but his innate musicianship, his feeling for line, for balance, for phrasing, for the placing of chords, is exciting…”. Choir & Organ remarked, “the fresh-voiced Exeter College Choir achieve a superb blend under their intelligent young conductor”.
As Director of Music at St James’s, Sussex Gardens, since 2015, he follows in the foootsteps of Harold Darke and Sir George Thalben-Ball, overseeing the fine professional choir. Under his leadership, the distinguished musical tradition of this church has been revitalised, with a new organ scholarship, and a £450,000 rebuild by Mander Organs of the 1882 Hill & Son instrument. For six years George was Director of Chapel & Choral Music at Wellington College, where he built the reputation of the Chapel Choir, leading them on tour to Spain, France, and Germany, and in collaborations with the choirs of Eton College, Royal Holloway, Guildford Cathedral, and Merton College, Oxford. Alongside his role with Godalming Choral Society, he is delighted to have been entrusted with the directorship of Wokingham Choral Society, where his predecessors include Edward Gardner, Paul Daniel, and Stephen Layton.
A prizewinning Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, with a first class degree from Oxford University, George has broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, and given organ concerts in Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, as well as across the UK and Europe. George is on the full-time teaching staff of King’s College School, Wimbledon, and in 2025 he will play a New Year’s Day broadcast live on Radio 3 featuring music by Jonathan Dove and David Briggs, alongside a new commission by Roderick Williams. Further season highlights include directing Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in Guildford Cathedral with the British Sinfonietta. George studies orchestral conducting with Russell Keable.
Organ scholar
Ben Cole
Ben is a freelance keyboardist and musical director. As an organist, he has performed with multiple choirs in Cambridge in the cathedrals of Dublin, Barcelona and Milan.
During his scholarship at Robinson College, he was responsible for accompanying the choir’s extensive repertoire. The choir’s growth during his work with the Director of Chapel Music, Will Sims, culminated in a concert with Durufle’s Requiem and Finzi’s Lo, the Full Final Sacrifice at the Duomo di Milano, which was broadcast nationally in Italy. The choir has also focussed on commissioning composers, being involved in the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music and releasing it’s first commercial CD ‘To the End of the Age’, the first recordings of six works they premiered. Ben’s role as organ scholar included taking rehearsals and conducting in concerts when the director was absent. He also organised independent concerts with members of the choir in his role as president of the Robinson College Music Society, in which he performed and conducted repertoire from Bach cantatas and Purcell songs to German lieder and highlights from musicals. Ben has also been involved in several opera productions at Cambridge, including as Assistant Musical Director for the University Opera Society’s production of Strauss II’s Die Fledermausand for independent productions of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Britten’s Curlew River. He has also co-written two musicals and performed in concerts throughout Cambridge and London.
Following his organ scholarship at Robinson College, Cambridge, Ben took up a directorship post at the Canal Café Theatre for NewsRevue, their Guinness-World-Record-winning political sketch show. He is currently studying Historical Performance for an MMus degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, focussing on harpsichord and organ with Nick Parle and James Johnstone, and taking electives in conducting and media composition. Ben is grateful to be working with the Director of Music, the Vicar and the Parish Team and contributing to the rich musical life at St James’.
Junior Organ Scholar
Robyn Chan
Robyn Chan was born in New York City, where she lived for 12 years before moving to London in 2020. She began playing the piano at the age of five and developed her passion for music early on. In 2019, she joined the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus, performing in productions La Bohème and Tosca until her move abroad to London, where she is based now. Robyn is a sixth form student at The Tiffin Girls’ School, and also attends the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music as a first-study pianist. Having achieved her ARSM diploma with distinction, she is currently preparing for her second diploma (LTCL). In December 2023, Robyn began playing the organ, and is currently studying with the Director of Music at St. James’s, George de Voil. She has aspirations to study Music either at University or Conservatoire, and she hopes to inspire the next generation of musicians, sharing her love of piano and her growing experience on the organ.
