DIRECTOR OF MUSIC – Robert Lewis
Robert Lewis is a conductor, performer and educator. Born in Cardiff, he began his musical training as a chorister at Westminster Cathedral under the direction of David Hill and James O’Donnell, later winning a choral scholarship to New College, Oxford, where he read Music. He founded his first choir at the age of 16 and a few years later was conducting regularly for concerts, radio and television broadcasts. He has worked with Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Karl Jenkins, David Hill, James Bowman, the Marylebone Camerata and the London Mozart Players.
Robert specialises in developing choirs and voices of all ages. He has been the Head of Music for a number of schools where his departments regularly achieved ‘outstanding’ from the schools’ inspectorate. Under his tutelage, his choirs have achieved notable success, including reaching the finals of the BBC Choir of the Year competition and singing for His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, in a televised performance in front of an audience of 40,000.
He was the Director of Music for the choirs of St. Thomas-on-The Bourne, Farnham until 2022. During his tenure, the choirs toured Prague, Cologne, Antwerp and Venice, recorded for television and radio and had a number 1 single in the classical charts. He is the Director of Music for Vox Farnham Chamber Choir and is also the co-founder of Excelsis and has been its Director of Music since its inception in 2007.
As a conductor Robert has made numerous recordings, including Sir Karl Jenkins’ The Healer: A Cantata for St. Luke with Excelsis and the Marylebone Camerata (Warner Classics), Clive Osgood’s Sacred Choral Music with Excelsis and the LMP (Convivium), On Christmas Night (Herald AV), the soundtrack for the Channel 4 drama New Worlds with the choirs of St. Thomas-on-The Bourne and Seren with Cai Thomas and the LMP (Rubicon Classics). He has conducted a number of world and UK premieres, the most recent being Blue Pearl: A One-World Oratorio by Steve Banks at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London in May 2022 and Clive Osgood’s Magnificat in May 2023.
Robert is well known for developing the solo voice. He has coached three BBC Young Chorister of the Year finalists in the last four years; Cai Thomas, Luca Brugnoli and Freddie Simpson. While Freddie’s career is still in its early stages, both Cai and Luca have gone on to achieve considerable acclaim and have been featured on Classic FM and BBC Radio 3.