Great choir conductors aren't born,
they're forged.
Join our 30-week mentoring & training course for choir conductors, rooted in reflection, artistic growth, and shared learning.
Explore the course
Reserve your free place
Complete the form to register for this free live session. You'll receive a confirmation email immediately, along with joining instructions. We look forward to welcoming you!
After clicking make sure to check your junk email.
Meet your mentors.
Your mentors are experienced conductors from around the world, bringing practical insight and expertise to every session. They’re ready to share what they’ve learned, help you grow, and work alongside you every step of your Forge experience. Click for their biographies.
Jonas Rasmussen
Denmark
Jonas Rasmussen is a Danish conductor, composer and educator, widely recognised for his ability to combine artistic ambition with playfulness and accessibility. He serves as Artistic Director of Academic Choir Aarhus and Youth Choir Aarhus U, both award-winning ensembles with whom he has achieved significant international success, including victories at the World Choral Championship in Tokyo, European Choir Games and Let the Peoples Sing.
Educated in choral conducting at the University of Cambridge, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Jonas has quickly established himself as one of the most distinctive choral voices of his generation. He has worked with professional ensembles such as The King’s Singers and Ars Nova Copenhagen and is in high demand as a workshop leader throughout Europe.
Beyond performance, he is committed to education and mentorship. Since 2021 he has taught classical choral conducting at the Royal Academy of Music Aarhus, and since 2025, he has shared content about choral music online for a wide international audience with a following of 100,000 across platforms and millions of views.
His work combines artistic excellence with accessibility, fostering community and innovation in choral music.
Tracy Wong
Malaysia
Dr. Tracy Wong is a Malaysian-Canadian choral conductor, music educator, composer, vocalist, and pianist. Dr. Wong is passionate about helping choral leaders and educators to provide unique experiences for their singers and students through collaborative commissions, customized workshops, festivals, and artist residencies. She does this through focusing on the balance of performance practice considerations, vocal and acoustic explorations, and choral artistry and heart.
Currently residing in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Wong has been appointed to the Eileen Mercier Professorship in Choral Music at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Music where she is an assistant professor, leads choral ensembles (Laurier Singers and Concert Choir) and mentors choral conducting students. She holds a Doctor in Musical Arts and Master in Music Performance (Choral Conducting) from the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, and a Bachelor of Music (Piano Performance) from the University of Newcastle, Australia. She is a two-time recipient of the 2016 & 2017 Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship in Choral Conducting, a nominee of the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting, and holds teaching awards from McMaster University (2018-19 McMaster University Student Union Teaching Award) and Western University (2024-25 Vice-Provost (Academic Programs) Award for Excellence in Collaborative Teaching).
As a composer-arranger, she advocates for repertoire-based music education, and her choral works support the development of vocal technique, musicianship skills, and artistry. Her music reflects the blend of different lived experiences, languages, and musical elements that continue to influence her compositional writing. Her music is published by Oxford University Press, ICC Publishing House (distributed by Beckenhorst Press), Hinshaw Music, and Cypress Choral Music. Her self-published music, Tracy Wong Series, is exclusively distributed by Graphite Publishing.
Dr. Wong’s strong commitment to choral organizations is reflected in her work as Co-Conductor of the 2025 American Choral Directors Association National Conference (Southeast Asian Immersion Choir), Conductor of the 2024 Organization of American Kodály Educators (Concert Treble Choir) and the 2024 British Columbia Youth Choir, keynote speaker for the 2024 Kodály Australia National Conference, Co-Conductor of the 2023 Asia Pacific Youth Choir (International Federation of Choral Music), atelier leader of Choralies 2025 (France) and Europa Cantat Junior 2023 (Flanders/Belgium), former Conductor of the Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir (Kitchener, Ontario), and singer with Babεl and Exultate Chamber Singers (Toronto).
Dr. Wong continues to actively collaborate with choral organizations in North America and internationally on conducting events, competition adjudications, workshops/clinics, commissioned projects, and residences.
Derrick Fox
USA
Dr. Derrick Fox is an internationally respected choral conductor, educator, leadership specialist, and clinician whose work has inspired conductors and singers across North America and beyond. Renowned for his engaging teaching style and practical approach to rehearsal, Derrick is passionate about helping conductors build thriving musical communities where artistic excellence, inclusion, and personal growth go hand in hand. Whether working with experienced professionals or emerging conductors, he is committed to equipping musicians with the confidence, skills, and leadership strategies they need to transform their rehearsals and inspire their ensembles.
Dr. Fox is Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Creative Endeavors, Associate Director of Choral Programs, and Professor of Choral Conducting at Michigan State University. Before returning to his alma mater, he served as Director of Choral Activities and Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska Omaha, following an appointment at Ithaca College. Having taught at middle school, high school and university levels, Derrick brings a breadth of experience that allows him to connect with conductors working in every educational setting. His teaching is rooted in the belief that every conductor can continue to grow, regardless of experience, and that great rehearsals begin with clear communication, purposeful leadership, and a genuine commitment to people.
An active guest conductor and presenter, Derrick has conducted honour choirs, festival ensembles and professional residencies throughout the United States and internationally. His workshops are highly regarded for their blend of practical rehearsal techniques, conducting gesture, assessment strategies, classroom culture, and leadership development. He is particularly recognised for helping conductors create inclusive, collaborative rehearsal environments where singers feel challenged, valued and motivated to achieve their very best. His work exploring African American shape-note traditions and culturally responsive music-making also reflects his commitment to broadening conductors' understanding of repertoire and performance practice.
Alongside his work as a conductor, Derrick is an accomplished baritone soloist who has appeared with orchestras, choirs and universities across the United States and in Brazil. His performances include collaborations with the Arkansas Symphony, Lansing Symphony, St. Louis Symphony and Omaha Symphonic Chorus, and he can be heard on the Naxos recording In This Hid Clearing, featuring selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. As both performer and educator, he brings a deep understanding of the singer's perspective into every rehearsal, helping conductors develop expressive, healthy and confident vocal ensembles.
Derrick's contributions to music education have been recognised through numerous honours, including the Nebraska Music Educators Association's Bryan R. Johnson Service Award and the University of Nebraska Omaha Distinguished Research and Creative Activity Award. Above all, he is known for his generosity, infectious enthusiasm and unwavering belief in the potential of every conductor. Through Forge, Derrick looks forward to sharing the rehearsal techniques, leadership principles and practical tools that have shaped his own career, helping conductors develop not only exceptional musical performances, but lasting musical communities.
Enter your text here.
Michael Joseph Barrett
South Africa
Dr. Michael Joseph Barrett is an internationally acclaimed conductor, educator, composer, and choral clinician. He was the conductor of the University of Pretoria (TUKS) Camerata and a full-time faculty member in choral conducting at the University of Pretoria's Department of Music from 2013-2025. Since April 2025, he has been appointed as a Research Associate at the University of Pretoria. Dr. Barrett earned his Doctor of Music (DMus) in Choral Performance from the University of Pretoria in 2017. His choirs have received numerous national and international awards, and he is frequently sought after as a guest conductor, lecturer, adjudicator, and choral clinician. His work spans across the globe, with recent engagements including conducting the Texas All-State Choir (TMEA 2024), the Missouri All-State Choir (MMEA 2022), and the Florida ACDA High School Honor Choir (2019). He has held university residencies at institutions such as Missouri State University, Texas State University, San Jose State University, and the University of Washington, among others. Dr. Barrett is also a passionate advocate for collaboration and regularly works with high school festivals and university programmes in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Internationally, Dr. Barrett has conducted and presented workshops in countries including the United Kingdom, USA, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Russia, and South Korea. He will debut at Carnegie Hall in April 2026, marking a significant milestone in his career. As the conductor of the TUKS Camerata, an 80-voice choir consisting of full-time students from diverse academic fields, Dr. Barrett had led the group to great success, including winning the prestigious Grand Prix of Nations for Best Mixed Youth Choir in Riga, Latvia, in both 2014 and 2017. The Camerata has also performed at the World Symposium of Choral Music in Barcelona, Spain (2017), and recorded six critically acclaimed albums. Their most recent projects include Light The Whole Sky (2025) and uJehova (2024), while their 2022 tour of the United Kingdom included a performance with the renowned vocal ensemble Voces8. In March 2025, the Camerata performed as a Headline Choir at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Dallas, Texas.
As a composer and arranger, Dr. Barrett has over 40 works published by Santa Barbara Music Publishers and Walton Music (USA). He has earned a Y2 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa for his contributions to South African Choral Music Research. Dr. Barrett also serves as the Executive Director and Co-Producer of Capital Singers, South Africa's largest community choir project, further solidifying his commitment to choral music both locally and internationally.
Sanna Valvanne
Finland
Sanna Valvanne is an innovative conductor, versatile performer and singer & songwriter, originally from Finland. She is Founding Director of the Sing & Shine Choirs and is recognised worldwide for her creative and holistic choral method: “Sing and Shine with Body and Soul”, which combines vocal expression with movement and drama. Sanna has been a popular clinician, guest conductor and performer with choirs around the world since 1994 and since then has been invited to guest conduct in dozens of countries around the world.
In 2014, she was chosen to present her method at the World Symposium on Choral Music, held in Seoul, South Korea, and in 2015-2016 she has been invited to guest conduct in Canada, Norway, Finland, Mexico, Colombia, USA, Hong Kong, Greece, Spain, and Germany. Sanna is a former singer, conductor’s assistant, and vocal trainer of the world famous Tapiola Choir, with a Masters Degree in Music, from the Sibelius Academy.
Previously Sanna founded and conducted children’s and youth choir programmes in Finland and Michigan, and performed in children’s TV-programmes in Finland. Since 2011, she has been living in New York City, where as the founding director of Sing & Shine Kids and the choir specialist at several El Sistema inspired programs, she works with children who lack other opportunities for learning music.
Sanna’s Sing & Shine Choirs have brought together her former children’s choir singers in Finland for new projects around the world, where the boundaries of choral expression are expanded and new forms for sharing love & joy & healing through vocal theatre are explored.
Sanna's special vocal warm ups have been published in a DVD and are available from www.sannavalvanne.com. Her newest DVD: “Sing and Shine Repertoire” will be published in 2016.
Anthony Trecek-King
USA
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Anthony Trecek-King has cultivated an international reputation as a choral conductor, scholar, pedagogue, and media personality. He is passionate about cultivating artistically excellent ensembles that explore socially relevant issues through emotionally immersive programs, challenging both artists and audiences to feel and think. Dr. Trecek-King has recently been appointed as both an Associate Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Activities at The Hartt School, University of Hartford and a Resident Conductor with the Handel and Haydn Society. Ensembles under his direction were integral to projects that have won a Pulitzer Prize (Madam White Snake, Zhou Long), received a Grammy (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Boston Modern Orchestra Project), and earned the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from Presidential Committee on the Arts (Boston Children’s Chorus).
Dr. Trecek-King has worked with a variety of artists and ensembles including Leslie Odom Jr., Melinda Doolittle, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Seraphic Fire, Keith Lockhart, John Williams, Gil Rose, Simon Halsey, Yo Yo Ma, and Roomful of Teeth. He has led performances in world-renowned venues including Boston Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall in New York City, Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Sydney Opera House. In addition to his conducting work, he is currently the host of the classical radio show “The Silent Canon'' which airs on KNVO 90.7. He can also be seen on-air and online on the Emmy nominated WGBH television series Sing That Thing, and two TEDx Boston talks.
He holds a B.M. in Cello Performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Florida State University, and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the Boston University. He currently lives in the Boston area with his partner Melanie (of Thinking is Power) and their cat.
Tori Longdon
UK
Co-Founder of Forge, Tori Longdon is the Principal Conductor of the Covent Garden Chorus, and the Associate Chorus Director of the London Philharmonic Choir, the choir of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She is in demand internationally following her work on the King’s Coronation Concert in May 2023 when she coached eighteen choirs from around the United Kingdom to perform for the King.
She is the co-founder of WorldChoir, formerly the Stay At Home Choir, an international community of thousands of choral singers which she leads together with Swingles baritone Jamie Wright.
Tori is currently a conductor for Songs Of Praise on BBC1, as well as an adjudicator for Young Choir Of The Year. She appeared on BBC2 as a judge on two series of The Choir with Gareth Malone. She has interviewed some of classical music’s most famous names, including Marin Alsop, John Rutter, Sir Karl Jenkins, Sofi Jeannin and Christopher Tin.
She now travels the world leading masterclasses, adjudicating competitions and working with young conductors, most recently in Australia, Germany, and Finland. She has written several articles for ClassicFM’s online magazine, and lectured for the Artist Development postgraduate course at the Royal Academy of Music.
Felix Shuen 孫子承
Hong Kong
Felix Shuen is one of the leading conductors in Hong Kong. He has extensive performance experience as a conductor and a vocalist, and has made appearances on international stages including Canada, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has served as director and conductor in various choral ensembles including the Diocesan Boys’ School Choirs, Hong Kong Young People’s Chorus, Hong Kong SingFest, Hong Kong Voices, and The Illumino Singers. He received critical acclaim as one of the two chorus masters in HK SingFest from 2013 to 2019, working closely with renowned world-class maestros including Helmuth Rilling, Paul Goodwin, Rolf Beck, and William Weinert. Under his direction, the Diocesan Boys’ School Choirs captured numerous awards in international competitions, including the recent world champion title in the World Choir Games 2023 & 2024. Among winning two categories in the recent Taipei International Choral Competition 2025, he was also awarded as one of the two Outstanding Conductors in the Festival.
Shuen is currently the Music Director of in his alma mater, Diocesan Boys’ School, consultant of Hong Kong Inter-School Choir (Senior Secondary Division), board member of Diocesan Choral Society and HK SingFest, and one of the Country and Regional Representatives of Asia Choral Association. He is the founder and artistic director of Phoenix Choral Projects, a newly establish platform for choral exchange in Hong Kong. He is also a vocalist of Hong Kong’s leading professional chamber choir NOĒMA. He obtained his Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music in 2012, studying conducting under William Weinert, Mark Scatterday, and Bradley Lubman.
Mariana Rosas
Argentina
Mariana Rosas is an Argentinian conductor based in the UK and Chorus Director of the London Symphony Chorus. In that role she has collaborated with Sir Antonio Pappano, Giannandrea Noseda, Michael Tilson Thomas, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Nathalie Stutzmann, Susanna Mälkki, Teodor Currentzis, Gustavo Dudamel, and Dr André J. Thomas.
She has worked with the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, Royal College of Music, Birmingham Opera Company, London Youth Choirs, Rundfunkchor Berlin, BBC Symphony Chorus, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, SWR Symphony Orchestra (Stuttgart), WDR Rundfunkchor (Cologne), London Voices and the West Midlands Inclusive Choir. Also, she holds teaching and conducting positions at the University of Birmingham.
Mariana was educated in Italy and Argentina, where she studied at the National University of Arts of Argentina and the Conservatoire of the City of Buenos Aires “Manuel de Falla”. In 2018 she moved to the UK to study at the University of Birmingham with Simon Halsey CBE.
Prior to her move to the UK, she was Assistant Professor of Choral Practice at the National University of Arts in Buenos Aires, and has worked as a guest conductor in Denmark, Canada, Italy, and Switzerland. She enjoys working with singers of all abilities and ages and is engaged regularly as a guest conductor with amateurs and professionals alike.
Ben Parry
UK
Ben Parry enjoys a busy career as a conductor, composer, singer, arranger and music producer. He is director of the professional choir London Voices with whom he has performed in major concert houses around the world as well as conducting many major film, TV and game soundtracks including Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Genshin Impact and Avengers.
He studied Music and History of Art at Cambridge University, where he was a member of King’s College Choir. In the mid-1980s he joined The Swingle Singers with whom he toured globally and performed with some of the world’s greatest musicians including Stephane Grappelli, Pierre Boulez and Dizzy Gillespie.
Moving to Edinburgh in 1995, he co-founded the Dunedin Consort, which has gone on to establish itself as Scotland’s premiere Baroque ensemble. He moved back to England in 2003 and has since held various prestigious directorial posts at St. Paul’s School, London, Junior Royal Academy of Music, King’s College Cambridge and the Aldeburgh Festival. He recently stepped down as Director of the National Youth Choir after 11 fruitful years.
As an orchestral conductor he has worked with the Academy of Ancient Music, Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Seville Royal Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic and BBC Concert Orchestras.
Ben’s own compositions and arrangements include a burgeoning catalogue of vocal and choral music for Peters Edition and OUP. He has enjoyed commissions from, among others, St John’s College, Cambridge, the BBC Singers, Chelmsford, Ely, Norwich and Worcester cathedrals, and his music has been heard at the BBC Proms concert series and on the TV and radio. Ben features on the credits of well over 300 recordings, broadcasts and film and game soundtracks.
Matthew Guard
USA
Matthew Guard is the founder and Artistic Director of Skylark, a six-time GRAMMY®-nominated vocal ensemble recognised for its distinctive approach to concert programming, recording, and arts entrepreneurship. Under his leadership, Skylark has grown from a small independent ensemble into an internationally recognised artistic organisation, with recordings distributed by LSO Live and performances at venues including the Morgan Library & Museum, the Met Cloisters, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, and St. John's Smith Square in London.
Known for creating ambitious projects that connect music with history, literature, visual art, and place, Guard has developed programs ranging from collaborations with bestselling author Dan Brown and Tony Award-winner Christine Baranski to large-scale works exploring wartime resistance, mathematics, and American cultural history. His scholarly work includes a new critical edition of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil prepared from the composer's autograph manuscript.
A self-taught conductor, arranger, and producer, Guard has recorded eighteen albums with Skylark, developing expertise in session management, audio production, immersive audio, and editing.
A graduate of Harvard College with an MBA from Emory's Goizueta Business School, Guard spent five years as a consultant at Bain & Company before co-founding Babiators, a children's sunglasses company recognised by Forbes as one of America's most promising companies. He brings that background to bear on every aspect of Skylark's growth — fundraising, recording production, audience development, and organisational strategy - with the conviction that artistic excellence and institutional sustainability are not in tension.
His work has earned recognition from the New York Times, BBC Radio 3, NPR, Gramophone, The Times of London, and others.
Greg Beardsell
UK
Co-Founder of Forge, Greg balances a busy schedule of freelance activities as conductor, clinician and adjudicator. He is Associate Conductor of London Voices, the UK's most in-demand professional session choir and Musical Director of the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland, an ensemble established in 1995 as a peace initiative and composed of young musicians from all over the island of Ireland. Every year, in collaboration with the orchestra, he conducts over 35,000 young singers across Ireland and the UK in a concert series called the Peace Proms; performances which help to nurture vital cross community relations.
He was, for 20 years, Principal Conductor of the National Youth Choir (15-18) and has held directorships with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, the Irish Youth Choir, the Ulster Youth Choir, the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir, Manchester Boys' Choir and Manchester University's chamber choir, Ad Solem. He was also Chorus Director for Gabrieli Consort's education programme ROAR.
He has conducted the chorus of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Bach Choir and the London Symphony Chorus and collaborated with conductors such as John Wilson, Marin Alsop, Edward Gardner and Sir Colin Davis. He has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, the City of London Sinfonia, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the National Children's Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestras of Ireland and Ulster, in a range of performance and education projects.
He has adjudicated at the Llangollen Eisteddfod, Côr Cymru, Cork Choral Festival, UK Choir of the Year and various other competitions around the world, and has also presented seminars on conducting and teaching strategies for organisations such as Cambridge University, the Swedish Choral Directors Association, Cornell University New York, and music education hubs across England.
An avid collaborator, with a Masters degree in composition, Greg has commissioned new music for choirs, electro-acoustic musicians, Irish folk ensembles, Carnatic Indian musicians, dance companies and jazz bands.
He enjoys a very close association with Royal Albert Hall, devising the inaugural International Youth Choir Festival there in 2017. The festival, produced in collaboration between the RAH Education & Outreach team and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, featured seminars, workshops and performances in the Hall and across the city from some of the finest choirs in the world.
He has been a guest presenter for BBC Radio 3’s Live in Concert, Inside Music and Choir and Organ programmes, and has featured as a choral music expert for the BBC Proms television broadcasts.
Emma Rae Ward - Cohort #001
"I felt I had a mentor who would push me and support me in equal measure. Because of that, I’ve found the bravery to step outside the box, try new rehearsal techniques, and figure out who I am as a conductor and a musician."
Leslie Wanyama - Cohort #001
"Beyond technique, I have learned how to think as a conductor: how to listen critically, shape musical intention, and communicate effectively with singers."
Rachel Staunton - Cohort #002
"The programme’s ethos of shared learning, honest reflection, and mutual support speaks directly to the realities of conducting: a role that is as demanding as it is rewarding."
Inside Forge.
New Forge Bursary Fund Announced.
We're delighted to introduce the Forge Bursary Fund, offering a limited number of bursaries to help talented conductors access the programme. If you've been offered a place on a Forge course and course fees would otherwise be a barrier, we'd encourage you to explore the support available. Every application is considered individually and in strict confidence. Visit our Courses & Prices page to find out more about the Forge Bursary Fund, eligibility and how to apply.
Dr Derrick Fox Joins Forge Mentor Team.
Forge is delighted to welcome Dr. Derrick Fox to its international mentor team. An internationally recognised choral conductor, educator and leadership specialist, Derrick is renowned for his inspiring rehearsal techniques, engaging teaching style and passion for developing conductors at every stage of their journey. As a Forge mentor, he will support participants through individual mentoring, rehearsal reviews and seminars, helping them build confident leadership, effective rehearsal skills and thriving musical communities.
All 2027 courses now open for applications.
We’re pleased to announce that applications are now open for all of our 2027 courses, with programmes beginning in January, April, September and November. Following continued interest in our training, we’re releasing dates earlier to help applicants plan ahead and choose the course that works best for them. With four start dates across the year, we hope this will make Forge accessible to even more conductors around the world. We are also offering an Early Bird discount if you apply for any of our 2027 courses before 12th September.
Meet Cohort 1.
January - July 2026
Meet Cohort 2.
May - November 2026
"I am delighted to support this imaginative and practical way of teaching conductors and of building support networks within our beloved choral world. It’s an affordable new way of learning from a world-class array of teachers with varying backgrounds and experiences."
Simon Halsey
Chorus Director Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Professor Emeritus University of Birmingham, Emeritus Director London Symphony Orchestra, Director CBSO Chorus
Meet the founders.
Although coming from different musical beginnings, Greg and Tori were drawn to the same challenge - building a more collegial, rigorous, and globally connected way for conductors to grow.
"We want to empower future generations of choral conductors to bring excellence, empathy, and creativity into every rehearsal and every performance."
Tori Longdon
UK
Co-Founder of Forge, Tori Longdon is the Principal Conductor of the Covent Garden Chorus, and the Associate Chorus Director of the London Philharmonic Choir, the choir of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She is in demand internationally following her work on the King’s Coronation Concert in May 2023 when she coached eighteen choirs from around the United Kingdom to perform for the King.
She is the co-founder of WorldChoir, formerly the Stay At Home Choir, an international community of thousands of choral singers which she leads together with Swingles baritone Jamie Wright.
Tori is currently a conductor for Songs Of Praise on BBC1, as well as an adjudicator for Young Choir Of The Year. She appeared on BBC2 as a judge on two series of The Choir with Gareth Malone. She has interviewed some of classical music’s most famous names, including Marin Alsop, John Rutter, Sir Karl Jenkins, Sofi Jeannin and Christopher Tin.
She now travels the world leading masterclasses, adjudicating competitions and working with young conductors, most recently in Australia, Germany, and Finland. She has written several articles for ClassicFM’s online magazine, and lectured for the Artist Development postgraduate course at the Royal Academy of Music.
Greg Beardsell
UK
Co-Founder of Forge, Greg balances a busy schedule of freelance activities as conductor, clinician and adjudicator. He is Associate Conductor of London Voices, the UK's most in-demand professional session choir and Musical Director of the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland, an ensemble established in 1995 as a peace initiative and composed of young musicians from all over the island of Ireland. Every year, in collaboration with the orchestra, he conducts over 35,000 young singers across Ireland and the UK in a concert series called the Peace Proms; performances which help to nurture vital cross community relations.
He was, for 20 years, Principal Conductor of the National Youth Choir (15-18) and has held directorships with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, the Irish Youth Choir, the Ulster Youth Choir, the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir, Manchester Boys' Choir and Manchester University's chamber choir, Ad Solem. He was also Chorus Director for Gabrieli Consort's education programme ROAR.
He has conducted the chorus of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Bach Choir and the London Symphony Chorus and collaborated with conductors such as John Wilson, Marin Alsop, Edward Gardner and Sir Colin Davis. He has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, the City of London Sinfonia, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the National Children's Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestras of Ireland and Ulster, in a range of performance and education projects.
He has adjudicated at the Llangollen Eisteddfod, Côr Cymru, Cork Choral Festival, UK Choir of the Year and various other competitions around the world, and has also presented seminars on conducting and teaching strategies for organisations such as Cambridge University, the Swedish Choral Directors Association, Cornell University New York, and music education hubs across England.
An avid collaborator, with a Masters degree in composition, Greg has commissioned new music for choirs, electro-acoustic musicians, Irish folk ensembles, Carnatic Indian musicians, dance companies and jazz bands.
He enjoys a very close association with Royal Albert Hall, devising the inaugural International Youth Choir Festival there in 2017. The festival, produced in collaboration between the RAH Education & Outreach team and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, featured seminars, workshops and performances in the Hall and across the city from some of the finest choirs in the world.
He has been a guest presenter for BBC Radio 3’s Live in Concert, Inside Music and Choir and Organ programmes, and has featured as a choral music expert for the BBC Proms television broadcasts.
"This new venture by two such thoughtful, caring and impassioned choral crusaders - Tori Longdon and Greg Beardsell - is sure to be a huge boost to so many people. Greg and Tori have each achieved so much in choral music-making, and done so with such insight, generosity and warmth: anyone looking to build their skills and confidence in choral conducting stands to gain so much for their positive guidance and encouragement."
James Murphy
Chief Executive Royal Philharmonic Society
The Guest Room.
Alongside your mentors, you’ll meet guest experts who bring fresh perspectives and specialist knowledge to enrich your learning.
Eric Whitacre
USA
Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, is among today’s most popular musicians. A graduate of The Juilliard School, his works are performed worldwide, and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united well over 100,000 singers from more than 145 countries. Among his recent accolades and awards, Eric received the Richard D. Colburn Award from the Colburn School and an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Chapman University (CA). His long-term relationship with Decca Classics has produced several no.1 albums which have enduring success.
Eric served consecutive terms as Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and currently holds the position of Visiting Composer at Pembroke College. He’s also an Ambassador for the Royal College of Music in London and is proud to be a Yamaha artist. A long-term relationship with Decca Classics has produced several no.1 albums which have enduring success. Recorded with vocal supergroup VOCES8 and released in 2023, Home features Eric’s work The Sacred Veil alongside other works spanning his thirty-year composition career.
Eric’s newest composition, Eternity in an Hour, premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the BBC Proms in September 2024. Written for choir, string quartet, piano and electronics, it’s the first time Eric has simultaneously conducted and played live electronics on-stage. The piece combines acoustic performance with live synths and real-time sampling and manipulation of the acoustic instruments. In 2025, The Pacific Has No Memory, commissioned by revered violinist, Anne Akiko Meyers, received its premiere performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, to followed by performances with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Insatiably curious and a lover of all types of music, Eric has worked with legendary Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer, as well as British pop icons Laura Mvula, Imogen Heap and Annie Lennox.
A widely respected conductor, Eric has worked with the world’s leading choirs and orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2024, he conducted Mozart Requiem alongside his own pieces with The Louisville Orchestra. His collaboration with Spitfire Audio resulted in a trail-blazing vocal sample library which became an instant best-seller and is used by composers the world-over. Major classical commissions have been written for the BBC Proms, Minnesota Orchestra, Rundfunkchor Berlin, The Tallis Scholars, VOCES8, cellist Julian Lloyd-Webber and the Philharmonia Orchestra, Chanticleer, National Symphony Orchestra/Kennedy Center, Kantorei, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, National Children’s Chorus of America and The King’s Singers.
His composition, Deep Field, was inspired by the achievements of the Hubble Space Telescope and became the foundation for a pioneering collaboration with NASA, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and film-makers 59 Productions. The film was premiered at Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral, Florida), has been seen in concert halls and at arts and science festivals across the world. His long-form work The Sacred Veil, a profound meditation on love, life and loss, was premiered by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by the composer.
Widely considered to be the pioneer of Virtual Choirs, Eric created his first project as an experiment in social media and digital technology. Virtual Choir 1: Lux Aurumque was published in 2010 and featured 185 singers from 12 countries. Ten years-on in 2020, Virtual Choir 6: Sing Gently – written for the Virtual Choir during the global pandemic that shook the world, COVID-19 – featured 17,562 singers from 129 countries. Previous Virtual Choir projects include ‘Glow’ written for the Winter Dreams holiday show at Disneyland© Adventure Park, California, and the Virtual Youth Choir, a major fundraiser for UNICEF. To date, the Virtual Choirs have registered over 60 million views and have been seen on global TV. Eric launched his Virtual School with its first course “The Beautiful Mess: Masterclass in Composition and Creativity”.
A charismatic speaker, Eric Whitacre has given keynote addresses for many Fortune 500 companies, in education and global institutions from Apple and Google to the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations Speaker’s Program. His mainstage talks at the influential TED conference in Long Beach CA received standing ovations.
Victoria Liedbergius
Norway
Victoria Liedbergius is a Norwegian-Swedish musician and arts administrator who has dedicated her career to fostering music and, in particular, advocating for choral singing on both a national and international level. Her extensive background combines the artistic training of a vocalist with years of practical experience in arts administration and leadership.
Raised in a family of choral singers, Liedbergius pursued her passion academically by studying singing at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
Early in her career, she was a singer in the prestigious World Youth Choir, an experience that would foreshadow her later leadership roles in the organization. Building on her musical foundation, she later studied administration and leadership at the Musical Academy in Oslo, providing her with the dual perspective of an artist and a manager.
Her administrative career is distinguished by her significant contributions to numerous European and international music organizations. She currently serves as the secretary general of the Norwegian Children and Youth Choir Association (Ung i Kor), where she advocates for young choral singers.
On the European stage, Liedbergius served as the president of the European Music Council (EMC), an umbrella organization for musical life across the continent. She was also deeply involved with the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat, first as the chairperson of its youth committee and later as a board member from 2012 to 2018.
Her international leadership extended to the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), where she served as a board member from 2017 to 2023. Her connection to the World Youth Choir has also continued, as she has served as Vice-President of its foundation and on the international jury for singer selections.
Liedbergius's work highlights a rare and valuable combination of creative musical understanding and strategic administrative skill, allowing her to shape policy and support for music from both artistic and practical standpoints.
André de Quadros
India
Dr. André de Quadros, conductor, ethnomusicologist, music educator, writer, human rights activist, and poet has conducted and undertaken research in over forty countries. His professional work has taken him to the most diverse settings, spanning professional ensembles, and projects with prisons, psychosocial rehabilitation, refugees and asylum-seekers, poverty locations, and victims of sexual violence, torture, and trauma.
Dr. de Quadros leads the following ensembles and projects: Common Ground Voices (Israeli-Palestinian-international), the Manado State University Choir (Indonesia), the Muslim Choral Ensemble (Sri Lanka), Common Ground Voices / La Frontera (Mexico-US border), and Boston’s VOICES 21C. He has co-led the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Countries Youth Choir. His conducting engagements of note include the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Bulgaria with which he toured Spain, the Massachusetts All-State Chorus (USA), the Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Orchestra (USA), the Prokofiev Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra (Indonesia), the Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra, the New Monash Orchestra (Australia), and the Jauna Muzika choir (Lithuania).
His deep commitment to justice and equity, peacebuilding, and reconciliation is manifested in a variety of projects. During the Iraq war, in 2008 and 2012, he co-directed Aswatuna: Arab Choral Festival in Jordan that brought together community choirs from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. He has co-directed the Community Heartsong, a historic project with young Palestinian and Israeli choral musicians in East Jerusalem working to foster understanding between the two communities. Since 2016, he has directed Common Ground Voices, an Israeli-Palestinian peace-seeking and dialogue project.
For more than a decade, André de Quadros has worked in Massachusetts prisons, jails, and detention centers with a focus on empowering people in incarcerated settings to tell their stories through improvised music, song-creation, poetry, movement, and theater. The approach that he created is called Empowering Song.
As a public intellectual, he has given countless international talks, lectures, keynote presentations, and workshops with community groups. Most recently, he co-founded the justice-focused media initiative, The Choral Commons, a media space for podcasts, webinars, educational resources, and choral creations with a focus on social justice projects.
Professor de Quadros was a Distinguished Academic Visitor, Queens’ College, at the University of Cambridge (2019), Visiting Professor, UCSI University, Malaysia (2016-2018), and Visiting Professor, Victoria University, Australia. He is a visiting professor at Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, China. In 2024 he was the Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He is the artistic director of Conducting 21C: Musical Leadership for a New Century, which he initiated at the Eric Ericson International Choral Centre in Sweden. Through this he is seen as a pioneer in conducting pedagogy through a process of music-making that stretches the boundaries of traditional music-making by developing compassionate, creative performance and engagement, and cross-cultural experimental repertoire. He is the artistic director of the London International Music Festival and a member of Interkultur’s World Choir Council. He has been a faculty member of CHORALSPACE – International Academy for Choral Arts and a member of the steering committee of Conductors Without Borders. Since 2011, he has been the founding director of the Music Research and Composition Network of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), the fourth largest online repository in the world. Additionally, he serves on numerous advisory and editorial boards.
His work in public health has taken him to sites of poverty in Guatemala, India, and Peru, where he has pioneered an arts-based community development (ABCD) approach to discover the power between the arts and public health through narrative community theater.
Simon Halsey
UK
Simon Halsey occupies a unique position in classical music. He is the trusted advisor on choral singing to the world’s greatest conductors, orchestras and choruses, and also an inspirational teacher and ambassador for choral singing to amateurs of every age, ability and background.
Making singing a central part of the world-class institutions with which he is associated, he has been instrumental in changing the level of symphonic singing across Europe. He holds positions across the UK and Europe as Chorus Director of City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Professor and Director of Choral Activities at University of Birmingham, Choral Director of London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Creative Director for Choral Music and Projects at WDR Rundfunkchor, Conductor Laureate of Rundfunkchor Berlin, and Principal Guest Conductor and Choral Ambassador of Orfeó Català Choirs.
He is also a highly respected teacher and academic, nurturing the next generation of choral conductors on his post-graduate course in Birmingham and through masterclasses in Germany, the Netherlands, and the US. He holds four honorary doctorates from universities in the UK, and in 2011 Schott Music published his book and DVD on choral conducting, Chorleitung: Vom Konzept zum Konzert.
Halsey has worked on nearly 80 recording projects, many of which have won major awards, including the Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, Echo Klassik, and three Grammy Awards with the Rundfunkchor Berlin. He was made Commander of the British Empire in 2015, was awarded The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2014, and received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to choral music in Germany.
Born in London, Simon Halsey sang in the choirs of New College, Oxford, and of King’s College, Cambridge and studied conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. In 1987, he founded with Graham Vick the Birmingham Opera Company. He was Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir from 1997 to 2008 and Principal Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia’s Choral Programme from 2004 to 2012. From 2001-2015 he led the Rundfunkchor Berlin (of which he is now Conductor Laureate); under his leadership the chorus gained a reputation internationally as one of the finest professional choral ensembles. Halsey also initiated innovative projects in unconventional venues and interdisciplinary formats and has pioneered the development of community choirs, including two in Birmingham and the surrounding area.
Darius Lim
Singapore
Singaporean Conductor-Composer Darius Lim (Dr.) is renowned globally for his visionary approach to choral music. As the Founder and Artistic Director of the Voices of Singapore, Darius has transformed the choral music landscape, blending lyrical, dramatic, instrumental, and theatrical elements into his compositions and performances, cementing his reputation as one of Singapore's most sought-after choral composer conductors.
With a passion for promoting Singaporean music and instilling a lifelong appreciation for choral music, Darius is recognised worldwide as an advocate for choral music, inspiring, engaging, educating, and entertaining audiences globally. He has performed at some of the world's most prestigious venues and platforms, including Carnegie Hall in New York City, Royal Albert Hall in London, the World Choir Games, World Youth Choir Festival in Austria, World Choral Expo in Macau, and the Grand Prix of Nations in Riga to name a few.
Darius's choral music has inspired thousands of singers globally, and his compositions have been performed by world-renowned ensembles such as VOCES8, The Choir of Royal Holloway, The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. He has been commissioned on numerous national and global platforms such as the Choir & Organ Magazine (UK) and has adjudicated international festivals such as the 2022 World Choir Festival and the Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival. In 2023, Darius will be the commissioned composer of the World Symposium on Choral Music in Istanbul by the International Federation of Choral Music, the Composer-in-Residence for National Concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and the set piece composer for the European Piano & Choral Olympics in Tallinn, Estonia.
As the founding Artistic Director of the Voices of Singapore, Darius has taken the choral society to new heights, becoming Singapore's leading choral society with over 1000 singers and 25 different choirs. The Voices of Singapore's home base is at the historic Capitol Theatre in the heart of the city. Darius's work with the choir has seen them perform as the main feature ensembles on a national level, including at events such as the National Day Parade, the President’s Star Charity, ChildAid, and the grand opening of the Singapore State Courts.
Apart from his work with the Voices of Singapore, Darius holds several positions in the local and global music scene, including CEO of The Voice Company, Council Member in the Asia Pacific Choral Council, and Board Chairman of the World Alliance of Children's Choirs. Darius completed his double major in piano and composition at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts during his undergrad studies and was the first Asian choral conductor to graduate from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama with a Masters in Choral Conducting (with Distinction). He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Darius's impact on the music industry has not gone unnoticed, and in 2021 he was invited by TEDx to present “The Voices of Singapore – Strengthening a Nation Through Choral Singing”, highlighting his global reach and inspiring millions of people worldwide.
Steven Grahl
UK
Steven Grahl is Director of Music at Trinity College, Cambridge and Conductor of Schola Cantorum of Oxford. He is active as a conductor and keyboard player.
From 2018-2024, he was Organist (Director of Music) and Tutor in Music at Christ Church, Oxford, and an Associate Professor of Music at Oxford University. He was also Musical Director of Benson Choral Society. Steven served as Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral from 2014 to 2018, where he was responsible for training the Cathedral Choir, and for the re-pitching of the Hill Organ, on which instrument he has recorded a solo CD. Peterborough Cathedral Choir’s recording of Cheryl Frances Hoad’s EvenYouSong, made under Steven’s direction, was released to critical acclaim in December 2017.
For seven years, Steven was Assistant Organist at New College, Oxford, and he combined this post with that of Organist and Director of Music at St Marylebone Parish Church, London. He has also been musical director of The Guildford Chamber Choir, Peterborough Choral Society, and The Stamford Chamber Orchestra. Conducting engagements include: Bach Mass in B minor with Schola Cantorum and Instruments of Time and Truth; Verdi Requiem with Peterborough Choral Society and Cathedral Choirs; Bach Magnificat and Handel Coronation Anthems with the Guildford Chamber Choir and Instruments of Time and Truth; and works by Escaich, Copland, Maw, and Whitacre with Cambridge University Symphony Chorus. Steven has worked with numerous other ensembles, including The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, Guildford Philharmonic, New London Chamber Choir, Prime Brass, and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.
A prize-winning graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford, and the Royal Academy of Music, Steven gained the top prizes in the FRCO examination, and is also a holder of the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medallion. In 2010, he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an award offered to past students of the Academy who have distinguished themselves in the music profession and made a significant contribution to it in their particular field. He has been Chairman of the Association of Assistant Cathedral Organists, completed a two-year term as President of the Incorporated Association of Organists, and has held a Junior Fellowship in Choral Direction at Birmingham Conservatoire. Steven was an interpretation finalist in the International Organ Competitions at St Albans (UK) in 2011, and in Dudelange (Luxembourg) in 2013.
Want to know more?
What is the Forge course?
Who is Forge for?
Want to contact the team?
Download our student brochure
