Andrew Cleary
Vocal Tutor
About
Andrew is a versatile musician and currently works as a freelance teacher, accompanist, Organist, Choral Director and conductor.
Andrew graduated from the University of East Anglia. Whilst there he was Organ Scholar at Norwich Cathedral and he worked with the Norwich Philharmonic Choir and the Aldeburgh Festival Chorus. In 1990 he moved to study at the Royal College of Music, directing the vocal Ensemble Nouve Musiche. He became Assistant Organist at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Trafalgar Square making regular broadcasts for BBC Radio and television and directing the St Martin’s Scholars.
He is Musical Director of the Portsmouth Military Wives Choir, and the Portsmouth Milton Glee Choir. As a Choral Director he has worked with Tenebrae and the King’s Singers and on RSCM courses as a tutor. He has also worked with the National Youth Music Theatre.
He is also Music Director and Organist at St Peter’s Church, Bishop’s Waltham and organist and repetiteur of the Lee Choral Society. He was the founder and Musical Director of the Portsmouth Cathedral Girls’ Choir and conducted the Portsmouth Grammar School Chamber Choir at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.
Andrew’s musical interests and tastes are wide. The Portsmouth Grammar School Glee Choir won the Portsmouth Schools’ Glee Competition in 2010. The Chamber Choir at Christ’s Hospital were placed third in the Finals of the Barnado’s National Choir Competition in 2014 and 2015.
Whilst Director of Music at The Portsmouth Grammar School he worked closely with the Chamber Choir and London Mozart players commissioning works from Sally Beamish, Cecilia MacDowell and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.
Andrew is a Past-President of the MMA; a Member of the King’s Theatre Trust, Southsea. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an ISI Schools Inspector.
In addition, Andrew has completed the London Marathon four times, once in under 3 hours. He also enjoys cycling and sailing.
Want to find out more? Read an interview with Andrew.
Other department members
Alison Woodward
Deputy Director, University of Chichester Conservatoire
Programme Coordinator - BA Hons Acting for Film and BA Hons Music
