The Ionian Singers with their conductor Timothy Salter are joined by the cellist Leo Melvin in a programme that journeys far afield in time and location. It includes English madrigals from the early 17th century, little-known choral music from 19th century Russia, 19th and 20th century music from England, including music by Holst in the 150th anniversary year of his birth, and English folk song arrangements. Music for solo cello by Gyorgy Ligeti and Timothy Salter completes the programme.
The Ionian Singers are a chamber choir committed to the performance of new works and great music from the past 400 years. Under their conductor, Timothy Salter, they perform widely in London, the UK and overseas. They have broadcast in the UK, Europe and the USA. Their recordings, acknowledged for the quality of the performances, reflect their concert programming policy: to search out less familiar repertoire. All the recordings include a substantial amount of music that is unavailable elsewhere in the current catalogues.
Timothy Salter is active as a composer, conductor and pianist. His compositions include instrumental, chamber and orchestral music, choral music and songs; many of his choral compositions have been written for The Ionian Singers. He has received publicly and privately funded commissions. His music has been recorded on various labels and broadcast throughout the world. For many years he taught composition and performance studies at the Royal College of Music, London. As a pianist he performs widely with instrumentalists and singers.
Leo Melvin graduated with honours from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with Richard Lester. Leo has performed several concertos with orchestras such as Sinfonia D'Amici, Kings Sinfonietta and Outcry Ensemble, and has recorded a solo cello track for Howard Goodall's CD release Enchanted Voices. Leo lived in Germany for two years, studying with Kleif Carnarius, Claudio Bohorquez and Troels Svane. He has since been playing with London Symphony, London Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras, giving solo and chamber recitals, and teaching. Leo joined the Villiers Quartet in 2021.