Oliver is a recent graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), achieving a first-class degree in Vocal and Operatic studies in the summer of 2024. Taught by Christopher Turner, Oliver has performed numerous operatic roles for RBC, including Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Father in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Harasta in Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen. Oliver is singer with the Josephine Baker Trust and a 2024 Waterperry Young Artist. He is now also working with the National Opera Studio in their inaugural year of the ‘NOS Academy’, and is thrilled to be learning from such a prestigious organisation.

Oliver also enjoys concert, choral and recitalist work, joining with celebrated companies such as the Royal Birmingham Ballet, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Buxton Opera Festival and the Leicester Symphony Orchestra. In September, he will be moving into to London to embark on a new adventure, studying towards his masters degree at the Royal College of Music, generously supported with scholarship.

1. How long have you been a member of Ex Cathedra and why did you join?

I started singing with Ex Cathedra in 2020, as a budding student scholar in my first year of study at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC). The first I heard of them was when my A Level music teacher, in an attempt to encourage me towards study at RBC, confidently told me I should contact Jeffrey at Ex Cathedra about singing with them. ‘I wouldn’t be good enough to sing with them’, I chuckled in reply. I’d love for 18-year-old Ollie to see me now, writing this as the current Ex Cathedra graduate scholar.

I applied to the scholarship position, hoping to ‘add another string to my bow’ and open up the world of choral work. Unfortunately, our first year of scholarship was during the Covid lockdown, so I didn’t get to sing with the full choir until the following year. Instead, the scholars and I took part in weekly 1-to-a-part sessions with Jeffrey. I couldn’t have known when I arrived at my first rehearsal, rather terrified, just how special Ex Cathedra would become to me.

2. What does a typical day look like for you?

You’ll hear everyone say this, but there really isn’t a typical day in the life of a musician. Currently, I am living back in my hometown with my family before moving to London for postgraduate study, so the range in what a day can look like is vast. On the exciting end of the scale, I’m often found on some form of public transport, probably score in hand, preparing for whatever rehearsal/ concert/ show the day has in store. Sometimes, singing work takes me abroad, a real highlight of the job. I feel SO incredibly lucky to be able to explore new places and meet new people all through singing. Other times, I’m found teaching a dance class, watching my students jump around and wondering where all my childlike energy went! On the less exciting end of the scale; I’m at home, at the piano, note bashing and practising… or perhaps on an online lesson. Other times, I’m in my element cooking (a real passion of mine) and hosting my friends. On the best days of all, I’m out walking the dog. So, as you can see, there’s no such thing as a typical day for a singer!

3. If you could choose to perform again any piece you have performed before with Ex Cathedra, what would it be, and & why?

This is a hard one. I honestly lose track of all that we’ve sung together over the last few years; something so wonderful about this choir is its ever-contrasting programmes. The first work I performed with Ex Cathedra was at the Symphony Hall in 2021, Mozart’s Requiem, one of the greats. That was a real ‘I’ve made it’ moment. Building on that, performing in the live screening of the film ‘Amadeus’ with the CBSO was one I’ll remember, or perhaps singing in the run of Carlos Acosta’s shows ‘On Before’ in the Hippodrome. If I really think about it though, the piece I always go back to is Alec Roth’s SATB setting of the poem ‘Sometime I Sing’. This is just one of those pieces that makes you sink into your seat, close your eyes and get taken away by the words and music. Simple and perfect, an Ex Cathedra classic, I first performed this with the Scholars consort in our performance at the RBC Bradshaw Hall in 2023. It gave me goosebumps then and it gives me goosebumps now.

4. What’s your musical “guilty secret”?

I’ve found this one extra hard to answer, so I’m afraid my response is a little bit of a dodge, but I love making playlists! Whether it be for me or for friends, for a season or a specific mood, I’ll make it. There is no better compliment than ‘I was listening to your playlist today’, it gives me great satisfaction. Failing this, I suppose my guilty pleasure is listening to the great soprano arias. Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé, the lot. I sometimes wonder if I may, in fact, be a soprano stuck in a baritone’s body.