Behind the Scenes
Stef Conner
Conductor
Stef Conner is a composer and choir-leader whose work forges connections between the ancient and modern worlds. She studied music at the University of York, graduating with a starred first in 2005, and was then awarded a scholarship to complete an MA in Jazz Studies. In 2007 she joined the Northumbrian folk/pop group The Unthanks and performed at such venues as The Barbican, Covent Garden Opera House, Glastonbury, Womad, the BBC Folk Awards and the Mercury Music Awards. Her approach to music-making was deeply affected by The Unthanks’ sensitive and honest style of musical storytelling. In 2012 she completed an AHRC-funded PhD in Composition at the University of York, which focused on the use of language as musical material. Her recent awards and commissions include the RPS Composition Prize, ISM Composers’ Competition, Rednile ‘Factory Nights’ Unique Commissions, The Esoterics ‘Polyphonous’ competition and the Making Music/Sound and Music ‘Adopt-a-Composer’ Scheme. Performers of her work include The Kreutzer Quartet, Juice, The Nieuw Ensemble, Cadenza, The Philharmonia Orchestra, John Potter, The Renaissance Singers and members of Ensemble 10/10. Two of her pieces premiered at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and she has received performances in York Minster, The Royal Festival Hall, Queen’s College (Cambridge), Cheltenham Festival, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre and Beijing Conservatory, as well as broadcasts on BBC Radio 2 and 3. In October 2013 she was appointed Composer in Residence for Streetwise Opera.
Claire Robins
Conductor, Leith Hill Timeline Choir
Claire Robins is a conductor and music teacher based in Surrey. A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, Claire is a qualified teacher with experience across secondary and primary phases with a passion for encouraging everyone to sing.
She is a Vocal Health First Aider, a Kodály specialist in music education and runs a private teaching studio. In addition to the Leith Hill Timeline Choir, Claire is also Conductor of the Training Choir for Farnham Youth Choir.
Featured Artists
Timeline Songs creative projects have also featured exciting performers and composers from diverse backgrounds, ranging from early music to opera, electronica, jazz and folk, including:
Juice Vocal Ensemble
juice (‘The 21st century’s answer to the Swingles or the King’s Singers’ The Times) are at the forefront of the UK’s experimental/classical scene, performing new
vocal music which draws on classical, world music, jazz, folk, pop, improvisation and theatre. They have featured on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. They have performed at London’s Wigmore Hall and the South Bank, King’s Place and the Roundhouse. In 2011, they made their US debut with concerts in New York and at the famed SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. In 2007, they were the first UK prize winners in the history of the internationally-renowned Tampere Vocal Festival. International performances include concerts in Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Finland and the U.S.
juice‘s debut album ‘Songspin’ (Nonclassical, 2011) won an international Independent Music Award for Best Contemporary Classical Album in 2012. Featuring remixes by the likes of of Camille producer MaJiker and Bjork collaborator Mikhail Karikis, it was reviewed by The Observer as ‘Eighteen immaculately achieved tracks, spanning Elisabeth Lutyens to Gabriel Prokofiev via folk song and avant garde, enchant and enthrall’.
Lisa J Coates
Lisa J Coates studied music in the UK and Canada, winning numerous awards as a young singer. She has gone on to perform in Germany, Italy, Spain, USA and China in opera, choral and contemporary music, and was a finalist in the 2013 Llangollen International Eisteddfod. Her operatic roles include Lapak Cunning Little Vixen (CO-Opera CO.), Shepherd Boy Tosca (Hashtag Opera), Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro and Andronico Tamerlano (Associated Studios Opera Scenes), Prince Orlofksy Die Fledermaus (University of York) The Sorceress Dido and Aeneas (University of Newcastle-Upone-Tyne) Mother Amahl and the Night Visitors (Opera Jorvik) she has created roles such as The Woman “Your Call…” (Kevin Jones – New York University Tisch and Tête-a-Tête Opera Festival 2014 & 2015) and Hera Hera’s List (Eve Harrison- Tête-a-Tête Opera Festival 2012). Recent highlights on the concert platform include solos in Handel Messiah and Duruflé Requiem. Commercial recordings include The Bee Symphony by Chris Watson and Marcus Davidson (Touch), which featured on the BBC Radio 3 Late Junction, and Faust music by Roger Marsh (Naxos Audio Books) with appearances on the One Show and Russian Channel 1 News. Lisa is currently a choral scholar at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich under Ralph Allwood MBE singing regular Eucharist and Evensong services.
Susannah Austin
Susannah Austin is a Sussex born folk singer and songwriter, whose sound has been likened to a young Joni Mitchell. Her collaboration with Ogilvy and Mather on their ‘Autotune’ campaign led to them taking home a Gold Lion in the 2013 Cannes Lions, and in between touring and recording with Tythe as a lead vocalist, in 2014 she released her debut album. She is in the process of writing and recording her second album in Dublin, whilst also working with Action To The Word theatre company on their new collaboration with the London Conchorde Ensemble ‘The Rhythm of Silence’. In 2015, she appeared with Streetwise Opera as the lead performer in Stef Conner’s opera ‘People Watch‘.