The choir
The present church choir, one of the finest choirs of its type in the UK, is an excellent mixed-voice choir with over 30 members who are currently 'brought up to music' by Stephen Dagg, Director of Music.
The choir’s repertoire of sacred music ranges from the 16th to the 21st centuries, including a recently commissioned and premièred work by Roxanna Panufnik. The choir sings to a cathedral-standard every week at the Sung Eucharist on Sunday and Choral evensong every last Sunday in the month. It also sings at special services during the year and goes on tour each summer. Recent tours have been to Dordogne/Aquitaine (2013), Bordeaux (2014) and Rome (2011,2012,2016).
In addition to its primary function of leading services at St Alfege Church the choir is often invited to sing at other venues and has been broadcast on television on the South Bank Show. In 2012 the choir was broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 and also whilst on tour to Rome, on Vatican radio.
Stephen Dagg, Director of Music
Stephen Dagg is Director of Music at St Alfege Church where cathedral standard music can be heard every Sunday. The choir has broadcast on TV and radio and recorded on the Nimbus and Meridian labels. Stephen is an organist, harpsichordist and choral conductor as well as a leader in music education in the UK. In 1993 Stephen was appointed Director of the Centre for Young Musicians (CYM), since 2009 a Division of the Guildhall School, which offers talented pupils high quality instrumental/vocal training taught by London’s most distinguished instrumentalists, singers and teachers. In 2007, under his stewardship, the CYM became a national Centre for Advanced Training. In 2014 he was appointed Director of the Guildhall Young Artists programme developing the CYM model nationally.
From 1985 to 2017 Stephen had responsibility for the internationally renowned London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO). With the LSSO, which is a significant ambassador for Britain’s youth abroad, Stephen has toured throughout Europe as well as in Japan and Argentina working with a “Who’s who” of internationally acclaimed artists from Sir Colin Davis and Sir Simon Rattle to Dudley Moore and Robbie Coltrane. Stephen has commissioned new work from many distinguished contemporary British composers including David Matthews, Derek Bourgeois, Diana Burrell, Sir John Tavener and, most recently, Roxanna Panufnik.
Ben Newlove, Assistant Organist
Benjamin Newlove enjoys a busy schedule as a freelance organist, harpsichordist and pianist based in London, whilst holding the position of Assistant Organist at the Royal Church of St. Alfege, Greenwich. Benjamin is currently studying for an MMus in harpsichord performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Previous posts include positions at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, St. Michael’s Church, Cornhill, St. Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, St. Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. At the ages of 17 and 20 respectively, Benjamin gained his Associateship and Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists, in which for the former he was a multiple prize-winner for both paperwork and performance. He also holds the Associateship diploma of Trinity College London for piano performance.