Sam Evans | Conductor
As a conductor, Sam specialises in vocal music of all kinds: from community choirs, to opera, to professional chamber choirs. He is currently Music Director of Battersea Choral Society, Battersea Power Station Community Choir, Barcarolle Choir, and the Kew Gardens Choir. He was formerly Director of the vocal ensembles at Kingston University, Music Director of Teddington Choral Society, and Choral Director at the University of Reading. In 2018 he was invited by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to form a brand new choir from the local area, to perform at the re-opening of the Temperate House at Kew Gardens. This choir ended up being 100 strong, and performed to great acclaim in the presence of Sir David Attenborough. In September 2021, he conducted Battersea Power Station Community Choir in a live performance at the opening of the new Northern Line extension to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station, in the presence of the Secretary of State for Transport, and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Sam is an also an experienced conductor of opera. He was formerly Artistic Director of Riverside Opera in south west London, and conducted fully-staged productions of Bizet Carmen and Gounod Romeo and Juliet for the company. In 2018, he conducted a fully-staged production of Verdi's La Traviata for Hampstead Garden Opera, which then toured to Sicily. With 20 years experience as a member of the Monteverdi Choir, Sam is much in demand for his knowledge of the music of Bach, and directs the annual Bach Choral Course at the University of St. Andrews.
Freelance conducting engagements have included conducting cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason (winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year) at the launch of the BBC Radio Christmas season 2016, and acting as Chorus Master for the BBC Singers for a performance of Glanert's "Megaris", with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo. For the Monteverdi Choir, he has acted as Chorus Master for performances of Mendelssohn's Lobgesang with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, a staged production of Benvenuto Cellini at Le Festival Berlioz in La Côte-Saint-André and the BBC Proms, and in November 2021 will chorus master the choir for performances of L’Enfance du Christ under Sir John Eliot Gardiner. In April 2018 he was guest Chorus Master for the Swedish Radio Choir for performances of Mozart C Minor Mass with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Daniel Harding. He recently assisted Daniel Harding for a performance of Messiah with the Wiener Singakademie and Concentus Musicus Wien at the Barocktage Stift Melk in Austria. In October 2019 he was invited back to the Swedish Radio Choir to chorus master for performances of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius in Stockholm, and in 2020 conducted the Swedish Radio Choir in a performance of Bruckner “Christus Factus est pro Nobis” at the Berwaldhallen in Stockholm.
“It was fantastic having Sam on board for a week of Bach cantatas in St Andrews. He has a rare ability to motivate a group. I think it comes from his infectious enthusiasm for bringing the music off the page, as well as his superb vocal technique and knowledge.”
Tom Wilkinson, University Organist, University of St. Andrews