The Engish baritone and music pedagogue, Laurence Whitehead, sang as a boy with the boys choir of St Mildred's Addiscombe, Croydon. He graduated from King's College, Cambridge, renowned for it’s excellence in choral music, is a Choral Scholar in 1987. He continued his studies in London, first at the Guildhall School of Music and then at the Royal College of Music. In 1991, he won two major national competitions: the Dermott Simpson Award for Baritones and a Young Artists Award from the National Federation of Music Societies. He obtained his Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) degree in Music from the University of Bristol in 2000.
Laurence Whitehead has appeared regularly as a soloist for Choral Societies throughout the UK. Highlights include performances of W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with Sir David Willcocks at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah with Sir Colin Davis. He has also sung with many famous choirs including the BBC Singers, Taverner Consort (Director: Andrew Parrott), The Sixteen (Director: Harry Christophers), The English Concert (Director: Trevor Pinnock), Polyphony (Director: Stephen Layton), Gabrieli Consort (Director: Paul McCreesh), Hilliard Ensemble and London Sinfonietta Voices. Before leaving London in 1996, appeared at major London festivals such as the the Verdi Festival, the Covent Garden Opera Festival and the Royal Opera House.
Laurence Whitehead has been a singing teacher and academic music teacher at Wells Cathedral School, England since 2000. He is now Head of Academic Music there. He was also a Vicar Choral with the eminent Wells Cathedral Choir, from 1996 to 2016, and has been Choirmaster at Encore Music Projects International Summer School since 2018. He currently lives in Wootton, Somerset. |