Soloists
Performing in our current season
Soprano - Elizabeth Green
Elizabeth (Tilly) Green is an undergraduate in her second year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying with Helen Lawson. She has studied singing since the age of four, achieved a Distinction in her Grade Eight voice examination, and was Head Chorister of both her school choir and her chamber choir whilst at Cobham Hall School.
Elizabeth was a chorister at Rochester Cathedral and a founding member of the Canterbury Cathedral Girls’ Choir. During this time, she appeared on commercial recordings for Regent Records and Decca Records, the latter of which was both as part of the choir and as a soloist. She was the youngest ever chorister at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir in Greenwich, and a chorister at Pimlico Voices.
Elizabeth is Artist in Residence for Cobham Choir, where they sing 3 concerts a year.
Elizabeth has sung as a soloist nationally and internationally, singing Bach St John Passion in Aachen, Germany, Chilcott St John Passion in Rochester Cathedral and as a soloist for the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. Elizabeth is a regular soloist for the Seventy Chamber Choir and Thanet Festival Choir where she has recently sung Israel in Egypt, Messiah, Acis and Galatea and Trial by Jury. Her most acclaimed performance yet was being the soloist for Canterbury Cathedral’s Messiah. Elizabeth was also invited back to the Canterbury Cathedral Girls’ Choir to sing with internationally acclaimed Voces8 ensemble for the Romney Marsh Festival. In the summer of 2019, she also sang within the chorus of Le Nozze Di Figaro in the gardens of Palazzo Corsini in Florence with the New Generation Festival under scholarship.
Elizabeth has toured internationally with the National Youth Choir of Scotland, performing in Carnegie Hall under Sir John Elliott Gardiner. She also opened the Edinburgh International Festival, singing Haydn’s Creation under Edward Gardner. Recently Elizabeth had the privilege of being nominated for the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary Competition as the only female in her year.
Countertenor - Rory McCleery
‘McCleery elicits performances that glow with golden purity and soul’ The Scotsman
‘Rory McCleery’s alto solo is outstanding’ The Sunday Times
Rory McCleery is much in demand as a countertenor soloist, performing at venues including the NOSPR in Katowice, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, the Concertgebouw Bruges, and the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles.
Recent repertoire includes Bach St John and St Matthew Passion and Magnificat; Handel Messiah, Dixit Dominus, Israel in Egypt and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne; Pärt Passio; Purcell Come ye Sons of Art, Ode to St Cecilia and Welcome to All the Pleasures; Monteverdi Vespers of 1610; Rameau Grands Motets; and Britten Abraham and Isaac.
Rory began his musical career as a chorister in the choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh. He gained a double first in Music and an MSt in Musicology with Distinction from Oxford University.
Rory has appeared on stage at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and in concert and recording as a soloist with The Dunedin Consort, Contrapunctus, The Monteverdi Choir, Ludus Baroque, La Nuova Musica, The Rose Consort of Viols, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Berkeley Ensemble, with whom he features on a Gramophone Award-nominated recording of music by Lennox and Michael Berkeley.
Recent solo performances have included Messiah with the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union (‘his voice had real presence and weight in the hall’ ***** The Herald) and songs by Dowland, Caccini, and Tim Cooper with Ensemble 1604 in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Rory has appeared as a soloist for broadcasts on ARTE, Radio France, BBC Radio 3 and German, Italian and Polish national radio.
Rory is also the founder and director of renowned vocal ensemble The Marian Consort, with whom he performs across the UK, Europe, North America and the Far East. Recent and upcoming performances include The Marian Consort’s Wigmore Hall debut, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, and a televised concert tour of Japan.
Tenor - Nicholas Todd
Nicholas began his musical career as a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral, and then from Uppingham School to King’s College Cambridge where he sang as a choral scholar. Moving to London in 1995, he quickly found himself immersed in an international choral scene, performing, touring and recording widely with groups such as Polyphony, The King’s Consort, The Sixteen and The Cardinall’s Musick. In 1997, he began singing and recording with The Huelgas Ensemble, performing all over Europe as a consort singer and soloist. Poliziano’s Orfeo was one of his most prominent roles, which he performed on Dutch national radio.
In 2000, Nicholas joined The Tallis Scholars as a regular member, recording and performing regularly in the United States, the Far East and all over Europe. This also coincided with his first venture into singing teaching, and in 2008, he joined music department of The King’s School Canterbury, where he is now Head of Singing.
Nicholas continues to work with a select group of vocal ensembles such as Alamire, The Cardinall’s Musick and Tenebrae. Many of his recordings have won awards, most notably his recording of choral works by Benjamin Britten with Polyphony in 2003 (Gramophone Award) and works by Victoria with Tenebrae in 2011 (BBC Music Magazine awards, Best Choral Disc).
Bass - Andrew Rupp
Andrew was born in Canterbury and started singing there as a Cathedral Chorister.
He made his debut in 1996 as The Vicar in Britten’s Albert Herring for British Youth Opera. Since then he has sung roles at Glyndebourne, Berlin Staatsoper, English National Opera, the Royal Opera House, Opera North, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Lausanne, Caen, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Paris, Vienna, Aldeburgh and Cardiff.
He performed The Sea Symphony at both the Royal Festival Hall with the RPO and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, its Chinese debut. He also sang with L’Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris and Cologne under the direction of Pierre Boulez and was a soloist in the all night performances of John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple in London, Amsterdam and New York.
He was High Priest of Jupiter in ENO’s Castor and Pollux, returning there to sing Bosun in their new production of Billy Budd. He sang the title role in Walton’s The Bear for both Northern Ireland Opera and the Royal Academy of Music.
As a member of the BBC Singers, Andrew performs frequently on Radio 3 and has been a soloist on many occasions, including Vaughan-Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Brahms’ Requiem, Carmina Burana and works by composers ranging from Bach to Birtwistle. He was also a soloist at The Last Night of the Proms in 2017.
Andrew has also worked with some of the country’s top choral ensembles, including The King’s Consort, Tenebrae, English Concert and Polyphony.
He is delighted to sing with the Whitstable Choral Society once again.