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Early life  -  Parish Church Choir, Pinner, Middlesex

Adrian’s early life was spent in Pinner, Middlesex and at a very early age, given the choice of singing or scouting, he opted to join the large Parish Church Choir as a probationer treble. Serving a long and happy musical apprenticeship, he quickly developed a passion for the English Choral Tradition and, thanks to a voice which steadfastly refused to break, became treble Head Chorister at the ripe old age of 16. His claim to be the only choirboy ever to be told to shave before singing evensong remains unchallenged! When nature finally took it course his voice merely settled and dropped a bit – and so another countertenor was born.

1999 - Present  -  St James Singers, based in Oxford.

St James singers has given over 120 concerts drawing on an eclectic repertoire covering twelve centuries of sacred and secular vocal music. This includes plainchant, medieval songs, renaissance motets, madrigals, Victorian parlour songs, glees, West Gallery music, early American psalms, folksongs, Welsh hymns, part-songs, spirituals and even specially written arrangements of modern ‘pop’ songs and their own commissioned work. Being small in number, St James Singers often performs at functions where space is limited. However, the group aspires to provide high quality musical entertainment for all tastes, occasions and situations whether meeting room or concert platform.               website- http://www.st-james-singers.net

2001- Lower Windrush Choral Society - a soloist in a performance of Carmina Burana.

The Society was formed in 1991 among a small group of friends as a focus for making music in the parishes of Stanton Harcourt, Standlake and Northmoor. Since then the Society has gone from strength to strength; currently there are over 40 members who come from as far afield as Oxford, Witney, Charlbury, Carterton and Stanford in the Vale. The Society  is a member of the West Oxfordshire Arts Association.

The Society usually performs three concerts each year and sings a wide range of music from the baroque to the contemporary, taking on many musical challenges from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and St Matthew Passion to Fanshaw’s African Sanctus and Britten’s St Nicholas. 

2003 - Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music

In 2003 Adrian met, by chance, the Mezzo-Soprano Christine Cairns who took on the role of his mentor and teacher, coaching him to achieving a pass with Distinction in the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Grade 4 Music Performance examination in 2004.

2005 - Wantage Music Festival - Eight Commendations plus one Distinction mark and five class wins. Runner up in the Vocal Championship. Recital performances at the Festival‘s closing concerts.the award of 8 Commendations plus 1 Distinction mark and outright wins in no less than five classes, and in 2006 with 7 Distinctions and six class wins. Adrian has been runner up in the Vocal Championship for two consecutive years and performed recitals at the Festival‘s closing concerts.

2005 - Production of a major concert in aid of the charity Music for Autism To mark a ‘significant’ birthday in October 2005 Adrian devised and produced a major concert in Oxford’s du Pre Hall entitled ‘Wayfaring Stranger’, raising funds for the charity Music for Autism, started by John Lubbock and Christine Cairns following the diagnosis of their youngest son Alexander with the condition. Many of Adrian’s professional musical friends performed, in addition to himself, all without fees, and an audience of over 150 raised the sum of £10,000 for the charity. 

Adrian presents a cheque to John and Christine with Susan Hampshire who also gave a memorable performance.

2005 - OSJ Voices  -John Lubbock invited Adrian to join his internationally renowned London-based Choir, OSJ Voices, for their 2005 season of Christmas concerts and in the proms 2006 and other engagements.

2006 - Wantage Music Festival - Seven distinctions and six class wins. Runner up in the Vocal Championship. Recital performances at the Festival's closing concerts.

2006- Oxford Music Festival - Two commendations, two distinctions and one outstanding. Two class wins and a recital in the final concert at the Jaqueline du Pre Hall in Oxford.At this year’s Oxford Music Festival Adrian maintained his high standard of performance, adjudicated with 2 Commendations, 2 Distinctions and 1 Outstanding. With 2 class wins to his credit Adrian also sang a short recital in the final concert at the Jaqueline du Pre Hall in Oxford.

2006 - Lower Windrush Choral Society - role of Agathocle in J.P Rameau’s opera Anacreon. The Opera, part of the Hertfordsire based Benslow Music Trust’s course programme, brought together an amateur company of singers, dancers and baroque orchestra under the instruction of professional directors and a choreographer, led by Steven Devine. The group, who had never worked together before, were faced with the considerable challenge of producing two fully staged and costumed public performances, from scratch, in just four days.

2007 - Special performance - Adrian is also fortunate to be able to call on the skills of a fellow St James Singer, the composer and organist Malcolm Pearce, currently Director of Music at Magdalen College School in Oxford. Malcolm has recently written a suite of three special arrangements of George Herbert songs especially for Adrian, due to be performed early in 2007.

Adrian has a long standing concert partnership with the highly accomplished and experienced Lutenist and Viola da Gamba player,Tricia McLaughlin. Despite her busy professional career as classical guitar teacher and accompanist the two have joined forces to perform Lute Ayres and explore Renaissance and Tudor music, delighting audiences with the unique sound and blend of Lute and countertenor voice.

Adrian with Tricia McLaughlin