About Us
"Musically it is a delight under the direction of Ben Palmer with his Orchestra of St Paul's and The Syred Consort."
Howard Loxton, The British Theatre Guide (Dido and Aeneas, September 2010)
The Syred Consort was formed in 2007 by Rosemary Galton and conductor Ben Palmer. A project-based chamber choir of handpicked singers, the Consort has performed in venues throughout the UK and recently sang for the first time in King's College Chapel, Cambridge, under the direction of Timothy Brown. The Consort appears regularly with its sister ensemble, the Syred Sinfonia, and with the Covent Garden-based Orchestra of St Paul's. In 2011 the Consort will perform for the first time at St John's, Smith Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as giving performances at other venues in London and around the country.
Recent programmes have included Bach's Christmas Oratorio, St John Passion and motets, as well as works by Allegri, Britten, Byrd, Duruflé, Elgar, Gesualdo, Finzi, Lotti, MacMillan, Praetorius, Scarlatti, Tallis, Tippett, Victoria and Walton, as well as world premières by Graham Ross and Malcolm Hayes. In May 2010 the Consort sang at the English Music Festival, and was immediately invited to return for the 2011 Festival. Other performances in 2011 include a concert for the Oxford and Cambridge Club, Vivaldi Gloria with the Belmont Ensemble, Bach's Mass in B minor with the Syred Sinfonia, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Handel's Messiah with the Orchestra of St Paul's.
The Syred Consort was initially founded to support the Richard Syred Bursary Fund at Churchill College, Cambridge, set up in order to assist alumni of the College in furthering their musical studies. The award's first recipient was cellist Morwenna Del Mar. The Consort remains hugely indebted to its sponsor, Richard Syred, from whom the choir takes its name.
Ben Palmer, Conductor
Ben Palmer is musical director of the Orchestra of St Paul's, the Bartholdy Chamber Orchestra and the Syred Sinfonia, and in November 2010 began a four-year tenure as conductor of the Stamford Chamber Orchestra in Lincolnshire. He has conducted Britten Sinfonia and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and is regularly invited to work with some of the UK's finest amateur orchestras. In 2011 he makes his debuts with the Wolsey Orchestra, Hertfordshire Philharmonia and Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra, and will conduct Birmingham University Symphony Orchestra at the CBSO Centre.
Ben Palmer is in great demand as a choral conductor, and is musical director of acclaimed chamber choir The Syred Consort, Kingston Orpheus Choir, and South West Essex Choir. In September 2010 he took up the position of musical director with Woking Choral Society in its 115th season.
With the Orchestra of St Paul's (OSP) Ben Palmer gives regular performances at festivals and other venues around the UK, including annual visits to Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room and St John’s, Smith Square. OSP is resident at the famous Actors' Church in Covent Garden, and runs a thriving concert series in its home venue. The orchestra, which brings together some of the finest young musicians in London, is Ensemble-in-Residence at the prestigious University College School in Hampstead. Performances this season include Tippett, Strauss, Adams and Shostakovich at Purcell Room, Beethoven's Ninth and Mahler with Roderick Williams at St John’s, Smith Square, and concerts at the English Music Festival and Budleigh Salterton Festival.
Ben Palmer has conducted orchestral concerts throughout the UK and in China, Italy, Germany Hungary, Poland and the Seychelles; he recently made his debut at the Royal Albert Hall. His opera experience includes productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Dido and Aeneas and Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges.
Future plans include a concert performance of Die Fledermaus, Haydn’s The Creation and a tour of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire and Walton’s Façade.
Rosemary Galton, Choir Manager
Rosemary was a choral scholar at Clare College, Cambridge, and with the chapel choir performed extensively in the UK and abroad. Having graduated with a degree in mathematics in 2005, she is currently studying for a Masters in Historical Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she is taught by Laura Sarti.
For The Syred Consort Rosemary has sung Dido in Dido and Aeneas, La Bergère/La Chauve-Souris/L’Ecureuil in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortilèges, as well as solos in Bach's Christmas Oratorio and St John Passion, Vaughan Williams Mass in g minor, and Howells Requiem.
Other recent solo appearances include Zerlina in a concert performance of Don Giovanni, Cherubino in scenes from The Marriage of Figaro, Handel’s Messiah, Damon in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Cupid/Venus in Purcell’s King Arthur. Rosemary has also given many solo recitals in Cambridge, London and Exeter, and recently appeared in the London Handel Festival singing duets by Handel and Steffani. Operatic chorus work includes John Blow’s Venus & Adonis, Acis and Galatea, and Così fan tutte.
Rosemary is a regular member of the choir of St Bartholomew the Great and also sings with various London-based ensembles, including The Guildhall Consort, English Voices, Tenebrae, and The Syred Consort, which she co-founded with conductor Ben Palmer in 2007.
Between her undergraduate and postgraduate studies, Rosemary spent some time working in Arts Administration for Aldeburgh Music and the National Opera Studio.
Future plans include chorus and Cretan Girl in Idomeneo, Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbre, Bach’s B minor mass, and a concert of Portuguese baroque music at GSMD.