Biographies
Sam Laughton, Musical Director
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A former organ scholar at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he read music, Sam now juggles dual careers as a barrister and musician. He is also the Director of the Craswall Players, the Chiltern Camerata, and the Speen Festival. He is in demand as a guest conductor, working with such orchestras as the Oxford Sinfonia, Kensington Chamber Orchestra, Kew Sinfonia, Orchestra of the City, Crendon Chamber Orchestra and Trinity Camerata. As a keyboard player he has also worked with the groups as varied as Oxford Philomusica, the Joyful Company of Singers, English National Opera and Garsington Opera.
Matthew Greenall, Founder
![Matthew Greenall](https://www.elysiansingers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/matthew1-250x250.jpg)
Matthew founded the choir in 1986 and was its Director until December 1999. After studying at Balliol College, Oxford and the Royal Academy of Music, he pursued a career as a professional pianist, conductor and teacher before being appointed Executive Director of Sound and Music in 2008. A leading authority on new music, he is now Executive Director of Walled City Music in Derry, City of Culture 2013, and also active as a music journalist.
Sir James MacMillan, Patron
![Sir James](https://www.elysiansingers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Sir-James.jpg)
Born in 1959, Sir James MacMillan is one of Britain’s best known contemporary composers. Also active as a conductor, he has written a wide array of orchestral and choral music. Many of his choral compositions draw unashamedly on his Scottish heritage, speaking to the listener with a haunting directness, and a cappella works such as A Child’s Prayer, written in memory of the Dunblane school massacre, are among his most powerful. He was awarded a knighthood in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Photograph: Hans van der Woerd
Photograph: Hans van der Woerd