Conductors
Conductors
Michelle Holloway
2014 – Present
Michelle has a passion for music education and music in the community. She is experienced in a wide range of environments: from Early Years settings to song-writing in mental health settings. She is also a recorder and woodwind teacher for the Birmingham Music Service. In September 2011, she was appointed conductor of the Birmingham Schools’ Recorder Sinfonia, and she became conductor of the Heart of England Recorder Orchestra in September 2014.
Christopher Orton
2012 – 2014
Christopher Orton is active as a recorder player, music educator and conductor throughout Europe. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at prestigious venues including the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Krakow Philharmonic Hall, Budapest Castle, the Wigmore Hall and recital and concerto engagements in Italy.
Colin Touchin
1999 – 2002 & 2007 – 2012
Colin Touchin was a conductor, composer, clarinettist and recorder player, and had been an adjudicator for over 30 years. He gained the LTCL Performer’s Diploma on recorder at the age of 16 and played in masterclasses with Jeanette van Wingerden, Ferdinand Conrad and Konrad Huenteler. He had composed extensively for Recorder Orchestra and with his father founded Tomus Publications.
Grace Barton
2005 – 2007
Grace Barton graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire in 1998 with a First Class BMus Hons degree and went on to gain a Diploma in Professions Studies in recorder performance. In 2004 she graduated from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where she had studied recorder performance with Reine Marie Verhagen and Historical Performance Practice with Peter van Heyghen.
Terry Gill
2005 – 2005
Terry Gill is an experienced oboe/recorder teacher and player, who taught music at the Minster School’s junior department, of which he was the head before retiring in 2001. The founder conductor of the Nottingham Youth Training Orchestra, he is also an SRP conductor and the Musical Director of the Nottinghamshire branch of the SRP.
Paul Clark
1992 – 1999
A prominent figure in the recorder world, Paul Clark was perhaps best known for his work with the Society of Recorder Players, for his teaching on various courses and summer schools, and for his many fine compositions and arrangements. He was also the inaugural conductor of the Heart of England Recorder Orchestra, conducting the group for almost seven years until June 1999.