Hannah Brine
Founder of Hannah Brine Choirs, and conductor of High Peak Singers and Didsbury Singers
Hannah Brine is a passionate choral conductor who believes that everyone can sing, regardless of experience or background. Growing up in a musical family, Hannah recognises the privilege of early musical exposure and has dedicated her career to making the joy of singing accessible to all. She firmly believes in the transformative power of music, whether it’s enjoyed once a week, once a month, or even once a year.
Hannah prides herself on creating safe, nurturing environments where singers of all levels can thrive. Her choirs work with some of the best professional musicians, maintaining high standards while inspiring participants to reach their full potential. Her commitment to excellence is reflected in the diverse and prestigious performances her choirs have delivered, including appearances at the Royal Variety Show, Olivier Awards, BBC Proms, and various TV and recording projects.
Hannah is a singer/songwriter and has a busy schedule of solo gigs and original music releases. Find out more about her music here.
Charles Béquignon-MacDougall
Conductor of Finsbury Park Singers, Finsbury A Cappella, and Victoria Park Singers
Charles Béquignon-MacDougall, known equally for his singing and his transformative work with choirs and singers, was appointed director of Finsbury Park Singers in early 2023.
A former member of internationally-acclaimed vocal ensemble VOCES8, he now sings for a number of other ensembles, including Gabrieli Consort and Players London Voices (appearing on numerous film soundtracks) and London Early Opera (including as a soloist on their releases Handel at Vauxhall, Vol.1 & 2, Signum Classics), as well as undertaking solo engagements internationally.
An accomplished choral conductor and vocal coach, he is Chorus Director for Gabrieli ROAR, Vocal Ensembles Coach and Tutor in Vocal Studies at Junior Trinity (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance) and directs 3 choirs in London. Recent directing highlights include conducting the world premieres of both Errollyn Wallen’s MAP: Songs For Children Everywhere for Britten-Pears Arts in Hull and Snape Maltings, and David Bruce’s Songs of Home for the 25th anniversary of The Voices Foundation at St. John’s, Smith Square. He is extremely active as a workshop leader, presenting sessions for the BBC Singers, UK Choir Festival, Association of British Choral Directors, LSO and Stay At Home Choir.
As an educator, he was part of the team that received the Music and Drama Education Award for Excellence in Primary/Early Years 2018 and he helped devise and deliver the daily Virtual Sing for children on lockdown in 2020. In 2021 he wrote the first volume of Inside Singing, a choral resource for primary school choir leaders, shortlisted for Outstanding Music Education Resource in the Music and Drama Education Awards 2023.
A fierce advocate for the importance of music and music education, he is the Choral Director of Voices Foundation, an Ambassador for Britten-Pears Arts, a Trustee of IntoOpera, and a Director and Trustee of the Choral Foundation, Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace.
Tristan Weymes
Conductor of Walthamstow Singers
Tristan graduated with Distinction and DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music’s prestigious Choral Conducting MA course in 2024, studying under Patrick Russill, earning a Regency award for all-round excellent studentship, and the Thomas Armstrong Award. He graduated from Trinity College, Oxford University, in 2021, where he conducted Trinity College Chapel Choir, the Oxford University Chorus, and the Turl Street Arts Festival Orchestra. He is Director of Music at St Mary the Virgin, Merton Park, Conductor of University College London Chamber Choir, Assistant Leader with the London Youth Cambiata Boys’ Choir whilst also Deputy Artistic Director and Choral Lead of Elysium, a charity which aims to provide musical opportunities to young people. His work with youth choirs has also involved roles with Inner Voices, Highbury Youth Choir, Frideswide Voices of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, as well as abroad. Tristan’s recent engagements have led him to work with a variety of community and youth choirs, and artists including Nadine Benjamin MBE and the Southbank Sinfonia.
He has previously held positions as Associate Conductor of the North Cotswolds Chamber Choir in 2021-22, and Conducting Fellow of Hertford Choral Society 2022-23. Tristan is determined to provide opportunities to musicians of all backgrounds: he established a Children’s Choir at St Luke’s, Woodside, where he was Director of Music until 2023, and has led singing workshops in the UK and abroad for children and adults alike. Whilst an undergraduate at Trinity College, Oxford, he was Conductor of the Trinity College Chapel Choir, who he led towards a recording session in March 2020. In that same month, he led the Oxford University Chorus to their second concert under his leadership, performing Dvorak’s ‘Stabat Mater’ at the University Church. Alongside these roles, he co-ran the TSAF Orchestra, and took up a Young Conducting Scholarship with Sing for Pleasure in 2019.
Tristan’s work as a soloist has seen him perform at St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Paul’s Knightsbridge, and as a backing singer onstage with London Youth Choirs at the Royal Albert Hall, and on Tom Rosenthal’s 2022 album ‘Dennis was a bird’.
In March, he made his debut at St John’s Smith Square, as a Bass soloist in Mozart ‘Requiem’ alongside the Purcell Singers, and the Southbank Sinfonia. He was previously a member of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, as well as the London Youth Chamber Choir and Inner Voices.
He sings with Laurelin Voices, Antiphon, and the Arcadian Singers, and is also a member of the Purcell Singers and the BBC Symphony Chorus.
His arranging work has featured music for a cappella groups, jazz bands, and choirs. His arrangement of Imagine Dragons’ ‘Natural’ for London Youth Cambiata Boys’ Choir culminated in a performance at Milton Court in December 2023, and has further engagements lined up for 2024. His a cappella arrangements have been heard on Spotify over 14,000 times, having been performed by Oxford’s ‘In the Pink’ a cappella group.
Kathryn Bradley
Conductor of Bollington Singers
Kathryn Bradley is a Manchester-based Choral Director, soprano and teacher. Kathryn works as a Choral Director for the Diocese of Salford, teaching singing in primary schools as part of the National Schools Singing Programme, and alongside the Director of Music, conducts and manages choirs at Salford Cathedral. She is Musical Director for Wilmslow choir The Lindow Singers, and works with the charity Sing Inside delivering accessible singing workshops in prisons around the UK. Kathryn has also performed as a vocal soloist for Opera North’s Youth Chorus, Warrington Musical Society and Ad Solem, and has performed in the world premieres of works by Will Todd and Gail Randall. She has also managed two operas in Manchester, and was co-chair of the Musica festival committee from 2020-2022. In 2022, she graduated with a 2:1 degree in Music from the University of Manchester. She is an ABRSM accredited teacher, and is passionate about aiding everyone in reaching their musical potential.
Seb Marshall
Conductor of Forest Gate Singers
Seb Marshall is a freelance conductor and clarinettist based in London. He is currently the Musical Director of the Woodford Symphony Orchestra, the Portobello Orchestra, and the Tonbridge Community Singers, and the Assistant Musical Director of Hallmark of Harmony, a multi-award-winning barbershop chorus. He also conducts the Sinfonia at Camden Music Service on a Saturday morning (a youth orchestra for under-18s) and was recently appointed as Guest Conductor of London Lawyers Orchestra. In the past he has worked with Junior Trinity, Warrington Youth Orchestra, Bradford Music and Arts Service, Warrington Musical Society and Street Orchestra Live, as well as led workshops and choral music courses in partnership with the NHS.
Seb has played clarinet with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Hallé, Northern Chamber Orchestra, London Concertante and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and is on the extras list for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He also regularly plays with choral societies, at music festivals, weddings, and scratch projects. In February 2022 appeared as clarinet soloist with the Amaretti Chamber Orchestra, playing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.
Seb trained as a clarinettist at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and studied music at the University of Manchester, where he was active both as a conductor and clarinettist. He conducted all of the University’s orchestras and choirs, including on European tours, and also played principal clarinet in many of their most prominent orchestral projects. At RNCM he took conducting lessons with Mark Heron and achieved the highest marking in the conducting elective, while he also regularly played principal and 2nd clarinet with the Symphony Orchestra in their most prestigious concerts, including in the Bridgewater Hall and Wigmore Hall, and under many esteemed conductors, including Elim Chan, Vassily Sinaisky, and Sir Mark Elder.
When Seb is not conducting or playing, he has a full schedule of peripatetic teaching of clarinet, saxophone, flute, recorder, and music theory. In his spare time he enjoys socialising, watching movies, cooking, and watching dog videos.
Judith Ogden
Hannah Brine’s assistant and choirs’ administrator
Judith grew up in Oxfordshire and studied for a degree in Music at Bristol University, graduating in 1994. She worked for a marketing production company in Bristol, and then for a marketing consultancy in Bath, before becoming a freelance arts administrator, and graphic and web designer in 2002. She has appeared as a singing extra in Christmas specials of Call the Midwife and Casualty, and on the soundtrack for TV ads and drama series, as well as on the sci-fi film Annihilation. She is married to the conductor and composer David Ogden, and has four adult children.