Gill Fourie

Head of Music Outreach
Gill Fourie

Gill studied music at Newcastle upon Tyne University and has worked with Blackburn Cathedral as outreach animateur since 2009. She is also chair of ‘abcd North West’ and has been Singing Coordinator for Lancashire Music Service, organising singing activities within Lancashire schools.

“I love doing the outreach project because it’s just fantastic and can alter the lives of children. It adds a spark of relief in an otherwise hard, testing educational environment. For my part, I feel privileged to carry a precious torch in music making and to be in the business (in some small measure) of making the world a better place.”

Jeff Borradaile B.Ed (Hons)

Artistic Director, Principal Conductor and Compère
Jeff Borradaile

Jeff is Musical Director of Blackburn People’s Choir (BPC), Gathered Voices, The Honour Choir, Ordsall A cappella Singers (OAS) Vocalise Youth Choir, Maelstrom Male Voice Choir and Decibelles Female Voice Choir. His choirs perform in the region of 45 concerts a year, sharing their love of singing with thousands of people. He also strives to develop a tradition of singing through his choirs, making it free to join for under 25’s, training and supporting assistant conductors and this year developing Vocalise Youth Choir. Jeff leads many educational projects. These have included workshops with the Hallé, Bridgewater Hall, The Lowry, Sing Up, Quays Culture, Music and the Deaf, individual school projects and outreach from his various choirs. He is currently Artistic Director with SingTogether, Blackburn Cathedral’s outreach project, cultivating a legacy for singing in 120 school across Lancashire.

Previous Work

Jeff is currently working with Paul Whittaker OBE on a Singing/BSL project for the Capital of Culture, Hull. With Blackburn People’s Choir he is developing a piece based on photographs taken during the Industrial Revolution documenting the lives of mill workers. Jeff also writes songs for the SingTogether project.

David Scott-Thomas

Musical Director
David Scott-Thomas

David studied at the prestigious Trinity College of Music, London and has given recitals in churches, cathedrals and concert halls throughout the UK, Australia, Europe and the USA. As both organist and pianist, David has featured on ITV and BBC1 and has broadcast on Radio 3 and ABC Classic FM in Sydney, Australia. In 2006 David was appointed Musical Director to The School of Art, Media & Performance at Blackpool and The Fylde College. Since then he has established a very fine and highly regarded choir and has co-written a BA Honours Degree in Musical Theatre on which he now lectures.