Will Dawes

Will Dawes(ARAM, PGDip (RAM), BMus (Hons) has been Director of Chapel Music of Somerville College since 2017. He has also been Director of Music at the church of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford since 2011.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied Choral Conducting under the inspirational guidance of Paddy Russill, he has directed the BBC Singers, the Eric Whitacre Singers and worked as chorusmaster for the Netherlands Radio Choir. He was the founding Director of Music of Frideswide Voices, the first choir to offer 7-13 year old girls the opportunity to sing in regular liturgical events in Oxford College Chapels. The choir is now the girl’s choir of Christ Church Cathedral.

As well as being in demand as a conductor, he is also a professional baritone, and for 16 years, he was a member of Stile Antico, one of the foremost vocal ensembles on the planet. He has also sung with most of the top professional choirs in the UK including The Sixteen, The Cardinall’s Musick, Ora, Magnificat, Gabrieli Consort, Polyphony, and London Voices. His work has taken him across the globe, including to Auckland, Shenzhen, Delhi, New York, and Jerusalem.

He is always happy to hear from singers interested in applying for choral awards at Somerville or Oxford in general. As the coordinator of the intercollegiate organ awards scheme, he is also happy to offer advice about organ awards at Oxford.