Musical Director: Hilary Campbell

Hilary Campbell is a freelance choral specialist. As well as being Musical Director of West London Chamber Choir, she is also founder and director of professional chamber choir Blossom Street, and MD of Bristol Choral Society and Chiswick. She is also conductor of several office choirs, including P&O Ferries, the group which won the recent BBC2 series The Choir, and whom she met whilst filming for the series. Her guest work includes ensembles such as the BBC Symphony Chorus (whom she prepared for a Prom featuring Mozart’s Mass in C Minor) and BBC Radio 4’s Daily Service Singers. She also runs an annual project with Judith Weir at the Royal Academy of Music, in conjunction with Blossom Street and the RAM composition department.  In 2017, she looks forward to chorus mastering the combined forces of the Royal Academy of Music singing department in a performance of Mahler Symphony No. 2 at Royal Festival Hall conducted by Semyon Bychkov.

Hilary gained a Distinction for an MMus in Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music with Patrick Russill, where as part of her course she worked with professional choirs including the BBC Singers and Cardinall’s Musick; she was also awarded the three choral conducting prizes.  She gained a Distinction for an MA in Vocal Studies at the University of York, and undertook an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in singing at Trinity College of Music.  Following her studies, she returned to the Royal Academy as the Meaker Fellow 2012-13, the first choral conductor to have been thus honoured.  In addition to her regular conducting work, Hilary also acts as an adjudicator, choral workshop leader and guest conductor.  She is a founder member of the Voices of London Festival, and is also a published and prize-winning composer.  With Blossom Street, she has released two award-winning Naxos recordings.  

Accompanist: Liam Dunachie

Liam Dunachie is a pianist, composer and arranger based in London.

Originally from Shropshire, he began his musical training as a treble chorister in Hereford Cathedral Choir and later studied music at Trinity College, Cambridge where he was a choral scholar in its world renowned choir under Stephen Layton. At Cambridge he studied composition with Robin Holloway and Richard Marlow and co-directed the Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra with which he toured Budapest, Rome and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

After graduating from Cambridge, Liam won a scholarship to study jazz piano and arranging at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he studied with Malcolm Edmonstone, Nikki Iles and Scott Stroman among others. He has performed with the London Jazz Orchestra at the Vortex Jazz Club and appeared with many different groups and artists at prestigious venues in London including Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, The Savoy Hotel, The Arts Club and The Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room.

As an accompanist and session pianist he has worked for a wide variety of organisations, including BBC2’s “The Choir” with Gareth Malone, Opera Up Close, and has worked in several of London’s premier recording studios including Air, Angel and The Pool.

As a composer and arranger he has also produced arrangements in recent months for the City of London Sinfonia and had his work performed by Trinity College Choir on a recent tour across the USA and Canada. He has also worked as a Musical Director for National Youth Music Theatre.