Who’s who
Matthew Martin
Precentor
Matthew read Music at Magdalen College, Oxford before studying at the Royal Academy of Music and with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris. From 2015-2020 he was Director of Music at Keble College, Oxford and Artistic Director of the Keble Early Music Festival. He has led the choir at Caius in a number of BBC broadcasts and concert tours, and their most recent recording (Motets by Peter Philips and Richard Dering) is due for release in May 2023 on the Linn Records label.
Matthew spent much of his early life immersed in cathedral music and in 2010, after six years as Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, he decided to focus more on composition. Since then he has been commissioned to write music for the The Tallis Scholars, the choirs of Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, The Gabrieli Consort and The Sixteen. Matthew won the Liturgical category in the 2013 British Composer Awards, and the first disc of his choral music (Jubilate Deo) was recorded by Daniel Hyde and The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford (Opus Arte/2014).
More recently, he has written for the Cheltenham Music Festival (Trumpet Sonata) and The Tallis Scholars (Lamentations of Jeremiah). His Rose Magnificat for Paul McCreesh and The Gabrieli Consort won the Choral category in the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards. Earlier in 2019, he was asked to write a festival anthem (In the midst of thy Temple) for the choir of Westminster Abbey, marking the 750th anniversary of its refounding, and a test piece for organ (Triptych) for the 2019 St Albans International Organ Competition. Matthew was also commissioned to write the new carol as part of the 2023 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge in December 2023. This was a setting of Angelus ad Virginem, dedicated to the memory of Simon Preston.
Matthew’s music is published by Novello and Faber Music.
Prospective applicants are welcome to arrange an informal audition by contacting Matthew at: precentor@cai.cam.ac.uk
Harrison Cole
Assistant Organist
Harrison was a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, and is currently the Assistant Organist for the Choir of Gonville & Caius, under Matthew Martin. He graduated with a first and has recently completed his Masters in Music, researching the piano music of Olivier Messiaen. He was also an organ scholar at Trinity, working under the direction of Stephen Layton, where he played for services, tours and recordings. Highlights included playing for a filmed production of Duruflé's Requiem at St. Eustache, Paris. He was also Senior Organ Scholar at Wells Cathedral from 2018-19. As an accompanist and chamber musician, Harrison enjoys a varied schedule of playing with instrumentalists, singers and choirs, and was previously one of the pianists for the Pembroke College Lieder Scheme, under Joseph Middleton.
Eben Eyres
Peter Walker Organ Scholar
Eben is a first-year music student at Caius. He began playing the organ under the tuition of Simon Mercer at the Junior RNCM in Manchester, where he was awarded the Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the JRNCM during his final year. Eben subsequently spent a year as organ scholar at Coventry Cathedral, developing his skills by regularly working with the cathedral choir. During his time there, he achieved three prizes in his ARCO diploma and performed recitals at a range of venues including Halifax Minster, Chesterfield Parish Church, and Coventry Cathedral itself. Eben continues his organ studies at Gonville & Caius College under Stephen Farr and Martin Baker, as well as pursuing a diverse range of musical activities outside of his scholarship.
Claire Wheeler
Choir and Chapel Administrator
Claire is the Choir and Chapel Administrator at Caius. She read Music at Royal Holloway (University of London) where she sang in the chapel choir, and worked in music publishing before taking up the post at Caius in 2011.
Telephone: 01223 332411
Email: choir@cai.cam.ac.uk