I am a choral conductor, and have been director of the Schola Magna choir (pictured above) at Blackfriars, Oxford since 2019. Blackfriars is a Catholic church in the city centre of Oxford belonging to the Dominican friars and has long been a house of intellectual study (particularly of St Thomas Aquinas) and, of course, of worship and liturgical prayer. It also has its own musical tradition, which includes the singing of Dominican chant (which is a distinct tradition within the larger family of Gregorian chant), usually led by the friars, and choral music, which I direct, ranging from polyphony (Tallis, Byrd, and Lassus being our core repertoire) to modern sacred music by composers like Poulenc and Gjeilo. We sing two Sundays a month for the 6pm Mass, and always welcome inquiries from potential new singers.
I am also an amateur pianist, with Schubert and Mozart among my favourite composers for the piano. I enjoy listening to lieder and to orchestral music.
Michael Wee 