Choral Course 1: Royal Holloway, University of London
Saturday 26th July - Friday 1st August 2025
Director: Katherine Dienes-Williams
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Part of the University of London, Royal Holloway was founded in 1886 and opened by Queen Victoria. It is famed for its impressive Founders building and its beautiful chapel and has a strong reputation for chapel music and choral singing. Many of our previous choral course students have gone on to study at Royal Holloway. The campus is based at Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX and easily accessed from London and the South East.
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You must be between the ages of 15 and 22 to apply for this course. If you are 15, you must currently be in Year 11. If you are in year 10, please take a look at our Choral Course in York or at the Junior Choral Courses.
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The cost of this course is £1125. There are a number of payment options available:
£250 deposit followed by an invoice to pay the remaining balance via a bank transfer by 31st March 2025
£250 deposit followed by two invoices - one to pay 50% of the remaining balance by 31st March 2025 and the other to pay the remainder by 14th June 2025.
The full £1125 on application using a credit card (plus a 1.5% Stripe transaction fee)
A monthly payment plan to be completed 6 weeks before the start of the course (14th June 2025) following a deposit of £250 on application. (monthly payments will be subject to a 1.5% Stripe processing fee)
Through one of the Foundation’s means-tested bursaries. See more below.
The refund policy is the same whichever payment option you choose. A full refund is available if you cancel the place by 5pm on 14th June 2025. 50% refund is available if cancelled after 5pm on 14th June and before 5pm on 5th July 2025. No refund is available if you cancel after 5pm on 5th July 2025. (Stripe processing fees are not refundable.)
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Our bursaries are awarded based on financial need, and the amount awarded is calculated on a sliding scale, which is means-tested. You can read about the criteria here as well deadlines and what information we need. You can apply for a bursary as part of registering for the course.
If you do not meet the criteria to receive a bursary from The Rodolfus Foundation, you may wish to look for other sources of funding. We have a list here which you may find helpful.
VISITS & GUESTS
Evensong - 29th July
New College, Oxford
Vocal Masterclass
Clint van der Linde
Visiting Director
Ralph Allwood
Visiting Director
Rupert Gough

SINGING TEACHER Nicola-Jane Kemp teaches singers at Clare College, Cambridge and in 2015 became Head of Singing at Eton College. Opera work has included Music Theatre Wales, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and BBC Radio 2. Concert work has taken her to the South Bank, Barbican, St John’s Smith Square in London and to the Middle East. She is an ABRSM Grade/Diploma examiner, has taught for The London Youth Choir, National Youth Choir and Rodolfus Choral Courses. During 20 years teaching at St Paul’s Girls’ School, she and Heidi Pegler co-edited the award-winning series ‘The Language of Song’ (Faber Music), a resource for learning to sing in foreign languages.

SINGING TEACHER Robert Rice studied music at King’s College, Cambridge, and at the RAM, while a cathedral lay-clerk at Southwark, and subsequently St Paul’s. He sings a wide range of music in concert, as soloist, in ensemble and as a recitalist. Recent solo engagements include Messiah and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. When not performing, he leads workshops, adjudicates, and teaches widely, including at King’s College, London, Cambridge University and the cathedrals of Lincoln, Salisbury, Chichester and Winchester. Novello & Co. Ltd have published many of his vocal arrangements, while others are sung worldwide, and have been recorded, by the King’s Singers.

SINGING TEACHER Stephen Taylor has enjoyed a career steeped in choral music, having sung as a chorister at Ely Cathedral and later as a choral scholar at Durham Cathedral, moving to Oxford to sing at Christ Church Cathedral, and New College. He has appeared with some of the leading consort groups, such as Cardinall's Musick, Magnificat, La Chapelle du Roi and The Tallis Scholars. He teaches at Eton and Radley Colleges as well as Cothill House School. At Oxford, he trains choral scholars at Brasenose and Wadham colleges. He is a Fellow and Director of Music at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

PRINCIPAL ACCOMPANIST Tom Winpenny is a freelance organist and choral director. He has held posts at St Albans Cathedral (where he was director of the Cathedral Girls Choir) and St Paul's Cathedral and studied as organ scholar at King's College, Cambridge. He is the organ teacher at The Purcell School and a trustee of the Royal College of Organists. Some of his recent freelance work has included accompanying BBC Singers and giving solo recitals in the USA, Sweden, Iceland and Germany.

COURSE ASSISTANT Sarah Burston is a freelance choral conductor and teacher of singing and musicianship. Sarah’s portfolio of work includes being the singing teacher for the choristers at Peterborough Cathedral, where she also directs the Cathedral Junior Choirs and works regularly with the Boys’, Girls’, and Youth Choirs, and at Ely Cathedral where she is a Chorister Singing Teacher. She also teaches musicianship at the London Youth Conservatoire. Sarah previously directed four choirs in the RCM Junior Department, was director of the Farnham Youth Choir Training Choir, and continues to work on an ad hoc basis with the Youth Choir.

COURSE ASSISTANT James Gooding's choral journey began as a chorister at Wells Cathedral at the age of 8, later continuing his vocal studies under the Vocal Programme at Wells Cathedral School. He graduated in 2024 from Royal Holloway, University of London, where he was a Bass Choral Scholar, sang at St Bartholomew The Great, and freelanced as a soloist in and outside of London. Now a Graduate Music Assistant at Wells Cathedral School, James helps oversee various choirs and vocal ensembles. A passionate ensemble singer, he performs regularly with groups such as Hemiola, The Dolor Consort, and Omnium Ensemble.

COURSE ASSISTANT Alex Standing is an active award-winning pianist based in London. She graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music, where she won the Marjorie Thomas Art of Song prize and various other prizes. She has recorded with the BBC Singers and toured internationally with singer Laura Wright. Teaching is very important to Alex and she previously held a Head of Keyboard role at a prestigious secondary school in Southampton, as well as teaching at a GDST school in London and regular work at the Royal Academy of Music Junior department and Widening Participation programmes.

COURSE MANAGER Simon Lee is the Director of Music at Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, Connecticut. He oversees the Music program which includes multiple children's choirs, a professional adult choir and a voluntary choir. Prior to his move to the States in 2024, Simon was based in the north-east of England where he conducted various professional and amateur choirs based at Durham Cathedral and The Glasshouse International Centre for Music amongst others. He holds degrees from Leeds University, Durham University and Yale University.

HOUSE PARENT Emily Elias studied music at Oxford University as an Organ Scholar at St Peter's College. Sitting alone in an organ loft was not really for her, so she returned to her first loves, singing and conducting, and pursued a career in France singing with Arsys Bourgogne, Les Jeunes Solistes and Les Eléments amongst others. When school holidays and time at home became the priority Emily moved into teaching singing and spent ten years teaching singing in secondary schools in London. She currently works at the Temple Church where the choristers are a never-ending source of madness and joy and conducts the Merbecke Choir at Southwark Cathedral.

HOUSE PARENT Harry Guthrie is a choral conductor based in London. He founded the professional choir Continuum in 2018 and directs the group in concerts and recordings in and around London. Harry is Head of Choral Music at Notting Hill and Ealing High School GDST, Director of Music at St Barnabas’ Church, Ealing and Musical Director of Fulham Camerata and has previously worked at Ely Cathedral, Wells Cathedral, St John’s College School, Cambridge and at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Harry read Music at Trinity College Cambridge where he held a Choral Scholarship under Stephen Layton.
JUNIOR COURSE ASSISTANT Eleanor Miles-Kingston is a Soprano currently studying on the Solo Voice Ensemble Singing course at the University of York. She began her career as a chorister at York Minster, after which she continued her studies as a music scholar at St Peter's School, York. Eleanor was able to continue her singing as a choral scholar at Royal Holloway, University of London. With the Choir of Royal Holloway, she featured on CD recordings including Ola Gjeilo's album 'Dreamweaver'. She graduated with a first-class degree and moved to Oxford to pursue teaching at St Edward's School. During this time, she was a Graduate Choral Scholar at Queen's College, Oxford. Outside of her current degree, Eleanor is a current member of the Sixteen's youth project, Genesis Sixteen. Away from singing, Eleanor is a keen runner and is in the middle of completing three half marathons for Cancer Research by the end of 2025.
FURTHER INFORMATION
ACCOMMODATION
The accommodation arrangements differ from those of the Choral Course held there in 2024. Singers will be staying in the Founder’s Building, a prominent university landmark.
ARRIVAL TIMES
The arrival time on day 1 is different from that of any previous Choral Course. Singers must now arrive between 11:00am and 11:30am on the first day. The course will conclude on the final day between 5:00pm and 6:00pm.
REFERENCES
As part of your application, we kindly ask for a brief reference from a singing or music teacher. This reference does not affect your acceptance onto the course. Instead, it helps our directors and singing teachers better understand your musical journey so far. Please note, references are only accepted through our online portal. The link to the online portal will be emailed to you once you have registered.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS
We welcome applications from singers outside of the UK. However, please note that course fees will include an approximate 3.25% card processing fee.
MORE QUESTIONS?
Please check out the main Choral Courses page for further information, including information for organists, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, and what’s included.