Celia Mathews - Chairwoman
Celia is our newly elected chairwoman for the next choral year. She trained as a biochemist/microbiologist and worked in research and industry. She then trained in sales and marketing for an international diagnostics company. To relax and take her mind off technical and commercial subjects, Celia loves to sing and she sings first tenor for the Haverhill Singers. When tenor numbers are low, she also makes guest appearances for the Brighton Singers, Celia's home town.
Celia joined Haverhill Singers in September 2021 and her most memorable moment so far is performing the musically and lyrically challenging 'Rejoice in the Lamb' by Benjamin Britten, at the Haverhill Singers' Spring concert 2022. This is especially because we received praise from one of the visiting professional soloists for our acquittal!
Hello
Dr Matthew Olyver - Musical Director
Matthew Olyver is a composer and conductor whose music is regularly performed by some of the leading orchestras, music ensembles and soloists in the world.
Recent highlights include: a piano concerto written for Soma Balázs Piri and the London Mozart Players, the soundtrack for the feature film Iris Warriors written for the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, and a piece for viola and piano written for and performed regularly by the internationally acclaimed viola soloist Timothy Ridout. He has also written pieces for ensembles such as CHROMA, the Berkeley Ensemble and Block4 and his music has been performed in the Dartington, Cheltenham, Waterloo and Spitalfields music festivals.
Matthew is also a passionate teacher of music theory, composition and viola/violin and he runs an extensive teaching practice in London. He also has a PhD in composition and LRAM/PGCertLTHE teaching qualifications to his name.
Matthew joined Haverhill Singers in April 2023 and he is most looking forward to working with such a lovely group of people to share some great music with the local community.
Members of the Committee
Ellie Mills - Secretary
David Simmons - Treasurer
Lisa Smith
Roma Fowler-Holmes
Rachel Barnes