Music Director

Our Music Director is John Naylor.

John Naylor, conductor, singer and organist, combines extensive performance experience in world-class choirs with a lifelong passionate interest in choral music and its performance. Following a successful business career he now devotes most of his activities to conducting and choir development.

His original training was as a choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge with the great Dr George Guest after keyboard studies with Conrad Eden at Durham Cathedral where he was a chorister, a music scholarship at Rossall School and singing studies with Wilfrid Brown and Lyndon van der Pump from The Royal College of Music.

He subsequently became a professional member of the Chapel Royal Choir of St Peter ad Vincula at H.M. Tower of London and worked with John Eliot Gardiner, Louis Halsey, Neville Mariner and Richard Hickox, appearing under their direction at The Proms, The South Bank, The Aldeburgh Festival and in numerous broadcasts and recordings. He has sung in the cathedral choirs of Christ Church Oxford, Carlisle and Chester.

John has been Director of The Lydian Singers since 1980 with whom he has performed extensively in the North West and in most of the cathedrals in Great Britain, often returning several times by invitation. He will give his final performance as conductor of the renowned Newport & District Male Voice Choir in September.

He was appointed Music Director of Nantwich Choral Society in September 2005 for whom he has conducted highly acclaimed performances of Mendelssohn's 'Elijah', Bach’s ‘St John Passion’ (in Chester Cathedral), and Monteverdi’s ‘Vespers of 1610’, Bernstein’s ‘Chichester Psalms’ and Fauré’s ‘Requiem’. In July 2007 he conducted a memorable joint performance in Nantwich of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man with Ensemble Vocal Arpège de Mâcon and in November a much praised performance of Mozart’s Requiem with the 18^th Century Concert Orchestra. 2008 included a recital of a capella English Pastoral Music, Tewkesbury Abbey, recitals in Perugia, Assisi, Orvieto, Spoleto and Todi cathedrals and Hexham abbey and Bangor Cathedral with The Lydian Singers, together with recitals, a new CD recording and filming an excerpt from ‘Miss Saigon’ with Newport & District MVC. With NCS he conducted Brahms Requiem in March, a highly enjoyable Opera Gala Evening in July, a memorable performance of Bach’s B minor Mass in November and most recently in January Messiah as the last ever concert in the former Nantwich Methodist church and in March, Gounod’s Messe de Saint Cecile and John Rutter’s Psalmfest and in June Haydn’s ‘The Seasons’ with the Northern Concordia Orchestra.

Future plans include Elgar’s ‘Dream of Gerontius’ (Chester cathedral) in November with the Northern Concordia Orchestra and Nantwich Choral Society, and Peterborough Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Durham, Exeter and Salisbury cathedrals with the Lydian Singers. From September John has been appointed conductor of The Phoenix Singers of Shrewsbury and will first conduct them in their December Christmas Concerts in St Mary’s Shrewsbury and then in a performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion at Shrewsbury Abbey in March 2010.