Catterwall

❧ Trebles ☙

⸻ Isabel Clarke ⸻

Isabel is a classically-trained soprano based in Birmingham. She studied Music at the University of Birmingham and during her time she had lessons under Cathy Benson at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and sang under the direction of Bob Chilcott in Birmingham University Singers. She now works in Arts Marketing but enjoys singing as a hobby alongside her work. She sings with the CBSO Chorus, Birmingham-based chamber choir Elgar Scholars, alumni choir of the Royal College of Music Junior Department —Vigala Singers — and has been a chorister at St Chads Cathedral for the past two years. She is an alumni of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Isabel also sings in an award-winning Barbershop Quartet, Ami Quartet, who have recently placed 4th internationally in the youth category. She is passionate about choral singing and the power of social media in the arts!

⸻ Amy Walker ⸻

Amy completed her BA Music degree at the University of York in 2019 with First-Class Honours, and subsequently graduated with an MA in Historical Performance Practice with Distinction in 2021, where she was also the recipient of the Dame Janet Baker Scholarship. Amy now works as a music teacher, community musician, and singer. She regularly performs with ensembles such as the Ebor Singers, Ex Corde, The White Rose Consort, and the St Lawrence Evensong Choir in York. Alongside this, she has also been a part of a number of nationally acclaimed music programmes, such as Genesis Sixteen. 

⸻ Sophie Mahar ⸻

Born in Liverpool, Sophie graduated with her doctorate from Liverpool Hope University in 2023, researching the Passion oratorios of seventeenth-century Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725) and the complex relationship between music and devotion in early modern Rome and Naples. This research saw her organise and perform the role of Pontius Pilate in the UK premiere of Scarlatti’s Passio secundum Joannem as well as produce the first complete diplomatic transcription of the Oratorio per la Passione di nostro Signore Gesù Cristo (1706). Prior to studying for her PhD, she completed a BA in Music and a Masters in Creative Practice, specialising in ensemble performance and undertaking several international tours with vocal sextet Voices of Hope. Sophie has been a choir member at the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King since 2017 and hails as the first female Lay Clerk in the North West of England. Sophie also sings with the Liverpool Bach Collective, The Elm Consort and barbershop quartet Hot Mess, who recently won the international gold medal at BIBA En Armonia Convention 2025. Sophie recently left academia and now works for the Partnerships team in a health and social care organisation, focusing on supporting adults with learning disabilities, autism and mental health challenges to live lives free of inequality, discrimination and exclusion. Outside of work Sophie enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her three beautiful cats — Pickles, Penny and Pedro.

⸻ Sam Hubbard ⸻

Sam is a musician based in Sheffield. Growing up in Northamptonshire, he developed as a chorister at St Paul’s Church in Bedford. The varied repertoire was formative and instilled a love of polyphony, especially that of giants like Tallis and Byrd. He studied Mathematics and Music at the University of Leeds, where there was a huge opportunity to fill spare time with music, as a singer with groups like The Clothworkers Consort of Leeds, and as accompanist for the Opera Society and other university choirs. He currently sings with Borealis, a chamber choir who notably record the idiosyncratic music of Hans Gál. Sam is an admirer of many types of vocal music, with a particularly deep affinity for jazz groups like The Hi-Lo’s. He is also active in the barbershop world as a quartet singer, educator, and arranger. His quartet, The Sharrow Vale Blues, perform across the UK and abroad, have won national awards, and recently competed at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Quartet Contest in Denver, Colorado.

❧ Contratenors ☙

⸻ Jacob Carter ⸻

Jacob hails from Surrey where he grew up singing choral music in school and with his family. Jacob’s parents met in a choir, so it was inevitable that he would grow to love choral music. As a teenager he discovered barbershop singing and has since sung with several ensembles in this style including Spice Report and Meantime Chorus. He has a background in musical theatre and gained a diploma from the London College of Music in musical theatre performance in 2018. He has a BA in acting from Arts University Bournemouth where he also sang with the Bournemouth University Chamber Choir and University Big Band. His acting career has given varied opportunities from working with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, to singing barbershop music in the recent feature film ‘Pillion’. He is excited by the unique opportunity that Catterwall presents and is very humbled to be among such talented musicians.

⸻ Matt Friend ⸻

― Angus Champion ―

Angus is a tenor based in Yorkshire. He discovered his love for singing in his Year 2 Nativity play, joining the choir of Beverley Minster soon afterward and staying for 11 years as a chorister and songman. Angus then read music at the University of York; singing regularly, picking up his French Horn only if absolutely necessary, and volunteering with the student Music Education outreach group. It was the latter that helped persuade Angus towards a Masters in Occupational Therapy at Anglia Ruskin University, from which he graduated this summer. While in Cambridge, Angus continued his singing as a choral scholar in the Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and is a founding member of the early music ensemble the Bruegel Consort — the current recipient of the Stile Antico Ensemble Development Bursary. These groups have led to singing opportunities in the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Italy and the US. In his spare time Angus is a keen hiker, and gets variable enjoyment out of his support for Hull City.

⸻ Nick Bryant ⸻

Nick was born in Sheffield and began singing in his school choir at age four, taking up piano soon after. Introduced to barbershop harmony by his stepfather, he has sung with numerous award-winning ensembles, including The Breakfast Club, international collegiate bronze medalists in 2023. Nick holds over 15 national and international barbershop awards, including a record four national youth quartet medals — the most of any British singer. An arranger since the age of 16, he has published over 50 works performed by national champions and international medalists; his arrangement of Let’s Go Fly a Kite was the first by a British arranger sung in competition by a Barbershop Harmony Society international quartet medalist. Nick became the youngest chorus director at a British Association of Barbershop Singers convention at 14 and co-founded the York City Harmonisers in 2024, who won the barbershop class at the Harrogate Competitive Festival in their debut. Also a pianist with a love of Romantic and Impressionist music — citing Debussy’s Clair de Lune as his all-time favourite piece — he is based in York, pursuing a PhD in Mathematical Biology, and enjoys exploring the city’s history and bakeries with his partner Taylor and their cat, Storm.

― Matthew Pandya ―

Matthew is a baritone based in Birmingham. Originally from Coventry, Matthew graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2023 with a degree in French and Music and has just completed an MMus in Vocal Performance at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he has performed operatic roles including ‘Pandolfe’ in Massenet’s Cendrillon, ‘Sid’ in Britten’s Albert Herring and ‘King’ in Smyth’s Fête Galante. Matthew also has a growing repertoire as a concert soloist, including performances of Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs, Bach’s St John Passion and Mozart’s Requiem. A versatile singer, Matthew equally has a wide range of choral experience, having sung with some of the UK’s top choirs, including Ex Cathedra and The Sixteen. He is a former member of the choir at Saint Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham, an Ex Cathedra Scholar and a graduate of the renowned Genesis Sixteen programme, and has performed at venues such as Symphony Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and Monte Carlo’s Grimaldi Forum. Outside of classical singing, Matthew is a vocal tutor, an avid sports fan and an international barbershop medalist with Ami Quartet.

― Michael Winter ―

Michael is now nearing the completion of his PhD at Newcastle University. When the opportunity presents itself, he particularly enjoys singing the music he is researching. He has sung with several groups in Newcastle, including the Cathedral Consort, Newcastle University’s New Vocal Ensemble, which specialises in Renaissance Polyphony, and the University Chamber Choir. He is also joining the Renaissance Singers (dir. David Allinson) for their next concert exploring the musical impact of the English Reformation.