Musical Directors

        PEN PICTURES

    Francis Wells,  Musical Director.

Fran has been with the Choir for several years as Assistant Musical Director. He is well known in the area as a baritone soloist and also because he is the music teacher at Sheffield's largest secondary school, King Edward VII's School. His first contact with the Choir was as a guest soloist. The arrangement was so successful that the association continued. Fran comes from North London and when he was young he was a member of the National Youth Choir. He is an enthusiast about choirs and singing and expresses his amazement that the male voice tradition has not spread widely in the south of England.
As the Choir's Deputy Conductor, Fran Wells filled the post of Musical Director for the greater part of 1996. During his brief period of office, the Choir won the Pantyfedwen Eisteddfod and was placed 4th in the prestigious Malta International Music Festival. Pressure of work, though, forced him to decide to revert to his former position as deputy conductor. In this role, he led the Choir in Chris Wiltshire's absences. In June 1997, he continued his run of victories at the National Male Voice Choir Championships in Rhyl. Once more, he led the Choir to first place and on this occasion he was also awarded the trophy for the best conductor. When Chris Wiltshire left the choir in 1999, Fran accepted the post of Musical Director, and has since continued to lead the choir to even greater achievements, winning the National Championships in 1999 and Llangollen Eisteddfod in 2002. 

Lorraine Pearson,  accompanist.

Lorraine Pearson, joined the Bolsterstone Male Voice Choir in 1985 and her flawless performances have been recognised by almost every adjudicator that has commented on our performances. Her excellence is a major factor in the choir's competition successes. In those concerts where the Choir is responsible for all the music, she often features as a solo artist. Recently she has been joined in duets by her daughter, Stacey. Lorraine graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1982 and continued training at the advanced performer level following graduation. She is now a music teacher in the Kirklees Metropolitan Authority. She was recruited following the untimely death of her long-serving predecessor, Jean Taylor, in whose memory the Choir donated a rose bowl for the Blackpool Male Voice Choir competition.

Christopher R. Wiltshire.

Chris is a professional composer and musician and already conducts other choirs and orchestras in the Sheffield area. He has considerable experience of male voice choir music having led the Felling MVC for several years. His expertise in MVC music was marked in 1993 by the University of London, Goldsmiths' College when he was awarded a PhD. for his thesis, 'The British Male Voice Choir: a history and contemporary assessment', which traces the development of male choral music in Britain from the 16th century to the present day.
It is, though, as a composer that Chris is best known. In the past, Chris has been commissioned to write several pieces of music for the Bolsterstone Male Voice Choir. Several pieces have been used successfully in competitions by the Choir. His latest composition for us - 'Birth of a Nation' - received debut performance its in June 1997 and was one of the pieces sung by the Choir in its Championship winning performance at the British MVC Championships.
Chris trained at the Royal Academy of Music studying piano, trumpet and composition (with Howard Ferguson and Richard Rodney Bennett). During a distinguished student hood he won the Royal Philharmonic Society's Composer's Award two years in succession, the Royal Amateur Orchestral Society's Composer's Prize as well as numerous other prizes for harmony and composition. During a highly successful career in education, he taught at every level from primary to higher education. Since turning freelance, he has fulfilled many commissions for a variety of choral, chamber and orchestral compositions and also worked in the professional theatre as a composer, pianist and musical director. Chris adjudicates at competitions in the UK and abroad and has worked as an examiner for Trinity College around the world.
As Archivist for the British Federation of Festivals, he has written the official history of the competitive festival in Britain and produced a fully illustrated publication entitled The British Federation - Portraits of its People to coincide with the organisation's 75th anniversary. His research into the history of British male choirs remains unique and he has broadcast and published several articles on the subject.
In 1991, the Royal Academy of Music awarded him an Honorary Diploma for Services to Music.

      Jeffrey Wynn Davies

Jeffrey is one of today's most highly respected and successful conductors, with successes in the whole range of choral music and not just with male choirs. Jeffrey resigned from the choir in September 1995 having spent 12 wonderful years at Bolsterstone and left the Choir in excellent musical shape. During his time at Bolsterstone, the Choir won the Northern and the English National Championships at Huddersfield and the Welsh Choir of the Year competition. Just as importantly, it was Jeffrey who took us abroad to sing in Germany, Denmark and South Africa, which enabled the Choir to hear the wonderful standard of singing in Europe and stimulated us to emulate it.
Jeffrey's greatest triumph was when, in 1994, he won the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year Trophy with his chamber choir, Canzonetta. Currently, he is the Musical Director for Harrogate Choral Society, Canzonetta, and in 2002 he accepted the position of Musical Director of the Manchester Boy's Choir