People List
Richard Vendome
Musical Director & Senior Girls
Biography
Richard Vendome's earliest choir-training experience was at St Francis' Church, Cowley, where he was organist from the age of 14. He went on to study organ, piano and composition at the Royal College of Music, and took singing lessons as a countertenor. He sang in several London choirs and at weekends directed the music at St Giles' Church, Oxford. Having won a scholarship to The Queen's College, Oxford, he continued his organ studies with James Dalton and later with Lady Susi Jeans.
After graduating Richard was appointed Organist at Exeter College and stayed on to research 16th-17th century music sources in the beautiful surroundings of Christ Church library, teaching at the Dragon School and elsewhere. The task of transcribing large amounts of music became the inspiration for his subsequent career as a software designer, and in 1975 he began to develop algorithms for the computerized editing and printing of music, long before the appearance of Finale and Sibelius. This pioneering work won him British Technology Group and Leverhulme research fellowships at Oxford University, and a British Computer Society Medal in 1990. He has taught techniques of composition and music history for Queen's and St Hilda's Colleges, and is editor of the Spanish Netherlands Keyboard Music and Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi series. His special interests include the psychology of music, and female musical traditions, such as those of Hildegard and the Venetian ospedali.
Richard ran several mixed and all-male choirs (his boys choristers included jazz pianist Colin Good and opera singer and composer Roderick Williams) before establishing the Oxford Girls' Choir in 1984 to fill a gap in Oxford's musical life, which at that time had many choral opportunities for boys, but none for girls. Over the past thirty years he has encouraged the choir to commission many new works from young composers, including former members of the choir. He continues to perform as a recitalist and has a large teaching practice, which supports the work of the choir. In 2005 he established the alumni choir "Vivaldi's Women" to make recordings and documentaries for BBC radio and television.
Hannah Rhodes
Prep 1 and Prep 2
Biography
Hannah Rhodes is a freelance musician and works as a teacher, performer and composer. Hannah has a toddler, Margot, who also takes up a lot of her time!
Hannah directs the prep choirs at Oxford Youth Choirs and has enjoyed leading music workshops in a variety of Early Years settings for Oxford Contemporary Music and Wild Boor Ideas. She taught classroom music, piano lessons and directed choirs at St Gregory the Great Primary School and St John Fisher Primary School for a number of years.
Much of Hannah's experience of facilitating music with Early Years comes from composing the music for and performing with Wild Boor Ideas, a much loved puppet theatre company, local to Oxford. She also writes songs for primary school aged children and early years for Out of the Ark Publishing and Baby College.
Hannah's singing work focusses on folk, jazz and pop music. She has performed as a solo singer-pianist for a number of years and with theatre companies such as the Royal Shakespeare Company both in the UK and internationally. Hannah specialised in piano performance during her BMus at the University of Birmingham and gained a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music from the Royal Schools of Music.
Lucia Boué
Prep 1 & 2
Biography
Lucia started singing at Oxford Youth Choirs in 2008 and stayed all the way through school, finishing as Head Girl of the choir in 2018. After A-levels, she decided to follow her passion for early years teaching and is currently a full-time early years apprentice. She thrives on encouraging musicality in young children, and following three years as a student helper in the Prep 1 choir, she was delighted to return as a teacher. She holds a DipABRSM in singing and is keen to develop her musical practice. She is also an experienced ballet and modern dancer, and enjoys choreographing and teaching the dances for the OGC Spring operas.
Monica Nelson
Musical Mayhem
Biography
Monica is a musician, singer and songwriter specialising in early years music. As an alumna and former Head Girl of Oxford Girls' Choir, Monica was trained by OYC director Richard Vendome and remains a lifelong friend of the choir. She left the choir in 1995 to read English at Glasgow University but continued to sing, performing with several choirs and bands. She spent over a decade working in journalism and PR before having children, which prompted a career change. She now has three children and runs an award-winning toddler music company, Musical Mayhem, which provides live music classes and parties for hundreds of 0-4 year olds across Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Monica plays a number of musical instruments including piano, guitar, ukulele, melodeon and trumpet and writes children's songs for Musical Mayhem. She also runs workshops and events for nurseries, pre-schools, primary schools and children's charities. She has a passion for inspiring an early love of music and singing and a friendly, enthusiastic approach.
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 sang Oxford Youth Choirs as a student (2006-2014), and then returned to teach and direct with them in 2018. She also directs chamber ensemble Rad Camerata and has led workshops/participated in community music outreach projects with organisations including City University London, Pacific Opera Victoria, Genesis Sixteen, and Ex Cathedra. She attended the 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society's Women Conductors programme, and is particularly interested in modern premieres/revivals of works by female composers, participating in projects recording and presenting music by Kassiani, Strozzi, Lang, the Boulangers, and many other - from the court of Ferrara to English convents displaced in France during the Reformation.
Margaret continues to perform regularly as a solo and small ensemble singer, touring and recording with groups including Ex Cathedra, The Sixteen, the Tallis Scholars, Cappella Romana, the Carice Singers, and Echo. Having grown up around a variety of musical traditions (Byzantine chant, jazz, baroque opera, and Greek folk music are all family favourites) she particularly enjoys improvisation, singing in new languages, and exploring vocal styles less often heard in UK choral circles.
Keep up with Margaret's latest projects here: https://www.facebook.com/mlingas/
Amy Chang
Senior Girls, Combined Choirs
Biography
Amy couldn't keep away after accompanying the Senior Girls' Choir for two years, and has since enjoyed covering for the Prep and Boys' choirs on occasion. She grew up in Sheffield and has a decade of experience working with choral groups, including local ones such as Sheffield Youth Choirs and Stannington Choir, as well as university choirs in both Oxford and Sheffield. Amy recently graduated from Oxford University with a First-Class BA in music. She now works as assistant editor in the music department at Oxford University Press and is a keen champion of music by female composers. In her spare time, you can find her leisurely learning the bassoon or trying new recipes.
Colin Danskin
Boys, Combined Choirs, Administrator, Designated Safeguarding Lead
Biography
Colin Danskin is a freelance teacher, conductor and tenor, working in Oxford and London. He enjoyed work as classroom music teacher for several years before completing a masters in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing at the University of York, and has completed the Advanced conductor training course with Sing for Pleasure.
Colin has several years experience directing residential weekends for both youth and adult choirs, ranging from Early Music to Close Harmony. He was Musical Director of renowned jazz a capella group, The Oxford Gargoyles, including a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022, and now directs Oxford Harmony.
During 2022-23 Colin was a lay clerk at Magdalen College, Oxford and a scholar with the Oxford Bach Soloists. He is currently a Voces8 Scholar.