Will Harmer

He has worked as an accompanist for Folkestone Song Academy, Temple Church, Oxford Youth Choirs, Primrose Hill Choirs and Oxford Music Faculty. As a composer, Will has been commissioned by the BBC Singers, Oxford Song and Ludlow English Song festivals. Competition successes include the Lord Mayor’s Composition Prize, BBC Proms Young Composer and John Sanders Memorial Prize.  His composition ‘Cetus’ for Annemarie Federle was premiered on BBC television as part of the BBC Young Musician competition. He was a 2023-24 National Youth Choirs Young Composer and his pieces ‘Fireworks’ and ‘Three Madrigals’ were released on NMC Records as part of the scheme and are published by Stainer and Bell in their Choral Now series. Will is also active in the London choral scene, performing with groups such as BBC Singers, The Sixteen, Monteverdi Choir, Temple Singers and St Martin’s Voices. He recently completed an MMus in composition at the Royal Academy of Music, having previously studied at Worcester College Oxford.

Sebastian Hill – Associate Artist 

Sebastian is currently studying on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is a graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford. He studies with David Pollard and is supported by the H R Taylor Trust, Drake Calleja Trust and The Countess of Munster Trust.   

He was an Opera Holland Park Young Artist covering the title role in Jonathan Dove’s Itch and previously a member of the Glyndebourne Chorus. He was awarded first prize in the London Bach Society Competition as well as the Patricia Routledge English Song Competition.  

Recent debuts include Britten’s Serenade at the Barbican conducted by Roberto González-Monjas, ‘Opera in 1775’ with The Mozartists at Cadogan Hall, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge in Schaffhausen, Zürich, Bern and Basel with Camerata Variable. Song highlights include a Goethe celebration at Wigmore Hall accompanied by Graham Johnson, the International Lied Festival Zeist, and the Oxford International Song Festival where he is a Young Artist. His increasing portfolio as an Evangelist includes performances with Ex Cathedra at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Oxford Bach Soloists, and Worcester Festival Choral Society. 

Gabriel Francis-Dehqani- Associate Artist

Gabriel Francis-Dehqani has performed extensively throughout the UK, Europe, North America and Asia, broadcasting numerous times on BBC Radio 3 and P2 Danish Radio. He was awarded First Prize at the Muriel Taylor Cello Competition, the International Contemporary Music Interpretation Competition and the Irish Heritage UK competition, held at Wigmore Hall. He has been invited to Festivals across Europe including The Aldeburgh Festival, Schiermonnikoog, Brussels Cello Festival and IMS Prussia Cove. Gabriel is the cellist in the award-winning Elmore Quartet who hold the position of Hans Keller Fellows at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, enjoying a busy performance schedule.