New conductors for county ensembles

From January 2024, we are delighted to introduce two new conductors who will be leading two of our Surrey Arts county ensembles.

Steph Godwin will be taking up the baton for the Surrey County Youth Wind Orchestra. Steph is a Senior Manager at Surrey Arts and the strategic lead for all the ensembles and music centres, and an experienced wind band conductor. She is the Director of Music for the Royal Air Force Air Cadet National Concert Band, regularly conducts the Wind Band course at the Kent Music summer school and has previously conducted the Kent Youth Wind Orchestra. In addition, Steph conducts the Bradstow Symphony Orchestra and Singers, the Halling Sinfonia and deps for a variety of ensembles and shows in Kent.

A clarinettist and saxophonist, Steph studied with David Fuest, Joanne Rozario, Christian Forshaw and Carlos Lopez-Real. Steph studied conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music as part of their Music Educator's Conducting Courses, and specialised in wind band conducting with Mark Heron, Bjorn Sagstad and Alberto Roque at the BASBWE Wind Ensemble Conducting Courses at the Sherborne Summer School of Music as well as with the Royal Air Force.

Steph says 'I have picked a mix of repertoire for the spring term such as Suite from Hamilton, English Folk Song Suite, Spirit of the Falcon, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and a new work by Jacob Bride called Drop! which has some very unusual percussion (metal bin lids and an anvil!) and it challenges the players to play electronic dance music on traditional instruments.'

Surrey Youth Choir will welcome Jonathan Lucas Wood. Jonathan is increasingly in demand as a dynamic choral conductor, tenor and vocal coach. He began his musical life in Berkshire; first with the Berkshire Boys Choir and then Taplow Youth Choir where he was part of the cohort who won the BBC Radio 3 Youth Choir of the Year competition. After studying at the University of Exeter with a choral scholarship, he was appointed Musical Director of the Exeter Bach Choir in 2016 – the youngest in the choir's history. As a passionate believer in the importance of improving the accessibility and inclusivity of classical music, Jonathan led the choir to acclaimed performances of all of J S Bach's major choral works in partnership with local schools and youth choirs. He now regularly works with choirs of all ages and sizes including Dartington Community Choir, Exeter University Singers, Collegium Singers and Exmouth Choral Society.

In 2021/22, Jonathan studied with Simon Halsey CBE on the MA Choral Conducting course at the University of Birmingham achieving distinction both overall and in his final conducting recital. This experience included working closely with the Birmingham University Singers, the CBSO Chorus and Youth Chorus and receiving mentoring from Bob Chilcott and Julian Wilkins. Jonathan also occasionally performs outside of the UK; in July 2023 he participated in the advanced class of the renowned Sarteano Chamber Choral Conducting Workshop in Italy studying daily with Simon Carrington and Dr. Tony Thornton.

Jonathan is currently a Tenor Lay Clerk at Buckfast Abbey, Deputy Lay Clerk at Exeter Cathedral and regularly performs as a tenor soloist with choral societies. He is also an alumnus of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain where he was a member for 8 years and performed as part of their Fellowship programme. This included working with esteemed conductors such as Marin Alsop, Daniel Barenboim, and Gustavo Dudamel, performing at the BBC Proms on several occasions and collaborating with The King's Singers in 2016.

Jonathan is also regularly involved with opera and musical theatre earning rave reviews for vocal coaching at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is a qualified Vocal Health First Aider and is currently studying for the Vocal Habilitation Professional qualification with Dr. Jenevora Williams – a specialist in young and changing voices. Away from performing, Jonathan is a Trustee of Sing Inside – a charity which provides group singing workshops in prisons across England and Wales to dismantle social barriers, develop musical skills, and encourage a greater sense of self-worth.

Jonathon said he is greatly looking forward to working with and developing the talented singers of Surrey Youth Choir from January 2024.