People
Benedict Goodall
Musical Director, Combined Choirs, Senior Girls, Designated Safeguarding Lead
Biography
Born in Oxford, Benedict grew up singing in his father’s church choir and playing french horn through the Oxfordshire County Music Service, and studying singing with his OYC predecessor Richard Vendome. He went on to read music at the University of Birmingham and sought every opportunity to work with as many musicians as possible as a conductor, singer or instrumentalist. Studying conducting under Simon Halsey, Julian Wilkins, and Daniele Rosina, Benedict enjoyed directing many of the University’s choirs and instrumental ensembles throughout his years there.
As a professional conductor, Benedict is honoured to be the new Musical Director of the Oxford Youth Choirs. Alongside OYC he currently directs four adult ensembles (newCHOIR Oxford, Chipping Norton Choral Society, Oxford University Press Choir, and Cumnor Choral Society) as well as another youth choir he set up in Chipping Norton (the Cotswold Youth Choir). In 2021 he was selected as one of four members of the National Youth Choirs’ Fellowship Scheme, studying under Ben Parry and working with musicians such as Voces8, Bob Chilcott, and Suzzie Vango, and continues to work for the organisation. Alongside his choral conducting, Benedict regularly works with instrumental ensembles, having conducted the Adderbury Ensemble, Oxford Sinfonia, Trinity Camerata, and was the Musical Director for the Telford Orchestra.
As a countertenor, Benedict has been a Stipendiary Clerk at Magdalen College Oxford, a Lay Clerk at St Chad’s and St Philip’s Cathedrals in Birmingham, a regular singer for the Birmingham Oratory, and a Lay Clerk at Coventry Cathedral. He is also a member of The Acafellas, a barbershop quartet which he formed with friends at university, who have toured the UK and Germany. Benedict is also highly in demand as an educator, providing musical direction, singing, brass, theory, and piano lessons to both adults and children.
Margaret Lingas
Juniors, Combined Choirs, Vocal Coach
Biography
Margaret Lingas was born in Cyprus, raised between the UK, Greece, and the USA, and earned her BMus in vocal performance with linguistics at the University of Victoria, Canada, where she studied with Benjamin Butterfield. While in North America, she sang with the Pacific Opera Victoria chorus and was a soloist with groups including the Victoria Baroque Players, the Sooke Philharmonic, and Fretwork.
Margaret originally joined Oxford Youth Choirs as a student, returning to teach and direct in 2018. She has led workshops/participated in community music projects with organisations including City University London, Pacific Opera Victoria, and Genesis Sixteen, and taken conducting courses with Sing for Pleasure, the Royal Philharmonic Society, and the Association of British Choral Directors. When she has a spare moment, she also likes to put together the occasional chamber music concert or recital.
Margaret continues to perform regularly as a solo and small ensemble singer in the UK and abroad, with groups including Ex Cathedra, Papagena, Cappella Romana, the Carice Singers, Echo, The Sixteen, and the Tallis Scholars. Having grown up with a variety of musical traditions (Byzantine chant, jazz, baroque opera, and Greek folk music are all family favourites) she particularly enjoys improvisation, collaboration, and singing in new languages.
Keep up with Margaret’s latest projects here:
Zee Rose
Boys, Combined Choirs
Biography
Zee is a class teacher and singer with over nine years’ experience in the education
sector. Through their time in school settings they are keenly aware of the need for safe spaces for young children to explore their voices in structured and supportive settings.
With teaching experience at Magdalen College School, John Hampden Grammar
School, and in her role as Assistant Director of Music at New College School, Zee has
worked extensively with students from Early Years through to Key Stage 5. In these
environments Zee has directed numerous choirs and ensembles, conducted concerts across venues in the Oxford area, and even written a musical!
With young teenage boys experiencing challenging and wide-ranging narratives on
masculinity, Zee is passionate about providing safe, secure, and positive environments in which young boys can understand their identities both independently and in relation to others around them. Their recent work with facilitating a Positive Masculinity Group in a state secondary school was extremely insightful for building positive and secure spaces to work with young adults. Zee is passionate about facilitating these environments in collaboration with other like-minded musicians at OYC.
Alongside music education, Zee is looking forward to starting training in earnest as a
therapist, with the goal to complete the Certificate in Therapeutic Skills and Studies with the Metanoia Institute over the course of this academic year. In her free time, Zee enjoys high-performance rowing, having recently participated in the World Masters Regatta on Lake Bled in Slovenia!
Sophie Cooper
Prep 1 & 2
Biography
Sophie is a singer, composer, and conductor. She works with Early Years Foundation Stage, Primary, and Secondary students in a variety of classroom music settings and extra-curricular groups, where she directs a chamber choir, leads singing assemblies and participates in Young Voices with students. She assists in multiple vocal and instrumental groups with the Chiltern Music Academy, helping young musicians to develop their confidence and love of music.
Sophie has completed a music degree at the University of York, where she specialised in composition and studied conducting; she held the position of conductor for the university's concert band. As a first study vocalist, Sophie has performed classical, folk, and musical theatre recitals, and enjoys exploring a range of music genres with her choirs.
She currently sings with the semi-professional Quire Voices, and holds qualifications in both Voice and Trumpet. Sophie was recently selected for the National Children's Choir Choral Leadership programme and has completed further training with Sing for Pleasure.
Anita D'Attellis
Accompanist to Senior and Junior Choirs
Biography
Anita D'Attellis performs as a solo pianist, chamber musician, and accompanist. She is the official accompanist to Benson Choral Society, Henley Voices, and the Somerset Chamber Choir, and she plays regularly for several other choirs and instrumentalists across the UK. Additionally, she performs with saxophonist Huw Wiggin and oboist Julia White on cruise ships worldwide.
As concerto soloist, Anita has performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, the Grieg Concerto, Shostakovich Piano Concerto no. 2, Mendelssohn’s first piano concerto, Saint-Saëns’ second, the Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Constant Lambert ‘The Rio Grande’, and Mozart Piano Concertos K.467, K.488, and K.491. She is a keen advocate of twentieth-century and contemporary music and has commissioned and performed works by Graham Lynch and Libby Croad, and she gave two performances of Doreen Carwithen’s Piano Concerto in 2026.
Anita founded ‘Winter Recitals, Wallingford’ (WRW) in 2018, a chamber music series in South Oxfordshire. A non-profit venture, WRW has donated £27,000 to charitable causes, and provided a platform for talented young musicians to perform, alongside the professional concerts.
Anita is an experienced teacher; she previously held the position of Head of Music at Trevor-Roberts School in Hampstead, London, and later became Head of Keyboard at Sherborne Girls, Dorset. Since 2008, she has been teaching piano at Eton College.
Helen Birch
Accompanist to Prep Choirs, Administrator, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Biography
Helen is a music editor and accompanist based in Oxford. She edits for several music publishers as well as self-published composers. Alongside this, she undertakes regular work as a pianist, organist, and violist, and is also the accompanist for the Opus 48 choir.
Helen has completed degrees in music from the universities of York and Oxford, and has held organ scholarships at the Oxford Oratory and University College, Oxford.
She loves working with children, especially in a musical setting, and has taught music to children aged 4–17 in the UK, Ireland, and the USA.
Trustees
Lydia Vella (Chair); Geoff Sutton (Treasurer); Maria Chataway (Designated Named Safeguarding Trustee); Catherine Wearden; Alex Silverman; Jerome Finnis; Matthew Brown; Robert Legg; Arabella Saer; Sanjay Manohar
