Press Release
A new star in our musical firmament - Music Director of The Cantate Choir
Robin Walker, DipRAM, PPDip, BMus(Perf), LRAM.
With a professional life embracing the roles of conductor, organist and singer, Robin (27) has already enjoyed a distinguished career at his relatively youthful age. Educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire, he spent a year after A-levels at Blackburn Cathedral as Organ Scholar and as an assistant teacher in the music department of the local grammar school before entering the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in 1994. There he received his Licentiate in organ studies and graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Performance) in 1998. He followed this with the Diploma of Postgraduate Performance with Distinction in organ in 2000 and topped this with the Academy's highest award, the Diploma of the Royal Academy, awarded for an outstanding final recital.
While at the Academy, Robin won three major prizes: the Thomas Armstrong Prize for choral conducting; the Irene Burcher Memorial Prize for work in church music; and the Henry Richards Prize for a solo organ recital. In 1999, he was awarded a Laura Ashley Foundation scholarship. During his years at the RAM, he also held outside posts as assistant conductor of the Uxbridge Choral Society and, for five years, as organist at Hinde Street Methodist Church in Marylebone. In 1998, he was appointed visiting lecturer at London's City University, a position which he continues to hold and where he is charged with running and directing the University's chamber choir.
Busy schedule
Apart from his work with City University and the Cantate, Robin Walker fits two other roles into his busy schedule. Since 2000, his principal occupation has been as Organist & Director of Music at St Giles-in-the Fields, London, where he runs all the musical activities of the church including a varied and imaginative series of lunchtime concerts. Additionally, he also acts as accompanist to the Berkhamsted Choral Society.
Ever since boyhood serving as a chorister at Ripon Cathedral, singing has played a central part in Robin's life, an interest which continued through music college as a member of the Academy's chamber choir and now on into his professional life. He regularly sings with London choirs and occasionally appears as a soloist in works from the choral repertoire. Married to Alison, a student Methodist minister, Robin lives in London and includes among his many interests sport, motor racing, walking, history, art and film.
Commenting on his Cantate appointment, Robin Walker says: "I hope to encourage a thoroughly enjoyable and stimulating atmosphere within the choir, working to a well organised and professional rehearsal format. Within that context - together with the total commitment and dedication of choir members - my aim is to achieve the highest standards of performance, both technical and musical, while exploring a wide-ranging repertoire for the overall pleasure of both Cantate audiences and singers."