Who's who

Tristan Weymes

Director of Music

Tristan graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with Distinction from its prestigious Choral Conducting MA course, studying under Patrick Russill, in 2024. Holding a scholarship, he then attained a DipRAM and Regency Award for performance and all-round studentship during his time there. He conducts the University College London Chamber Choir whilst being Director of Music at St Mary the Virgin, Merton Park, having previously been a Sing for Pleasure Conducting Scholar in 2019-20, and Associate Conductor of the North Cotswolds Chamber Choir in 2021-22.

Dedicated to music education, Tristan is Deputy Artistic Lead, and Choral Lead, of Elysium Music, a charity which provides side-by-side participation opportunities for children from low-participation networks in London. Alongside this, he is an Assistant Leader with the London Youth Cambiata Boys’ Choir, was Musicianship/Aural Lead and Choir Director at Youth Music Centre, and has been a Section Leader with the National Youth Boys’ Choir. His previous youth choir work has involved roles with Inner Voices, Highbury Youth Choir, Frideswide Voices of Christ Church Cathedral, and is in demand as a music workshop leader both in the UK and abroad. In December 2023, he collaborated with Nadine Benjamin MBE, the Burntwood School Chamber Choir, and Elysium Consort towards a performance of Poulenc’s ‘Gloria’ at Nadine’s ‘Everybody Can!’ event.

Prior to his time at the Academy, he studied Music and was Organ Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford. There, he ran the choir at weekly services, and led them to a tour to Prague in 2019, and a recording session in March 2020. In that same month, Tristan conducted the Oxford University Chorus to their second concert under his leadership, performing Dvorak’s ‘Stabat Mater’. Whilst at university, he was also co-conductor of the Turl Street Arts Festival Orchestra, and MD of two Gilbert and Sullivan Society shows including ‘Iolanthe’, which won an award at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate in 2019.

Chorister Coach - Kate Ashby

Kate Ashby enjoys a busy career as a professional singer and teacher, specialising in early music. She grew up in Oxford and studied music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where she was a choral scholar under Richard Marlow. As a founder member of the early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico, Kate has toured the world and recorded twelve discs for Harmonia Mundi and three for Decca, garnering many awards including three GRAMMY nominations and two Gramophone' Disc of the Year awards. Over the years, she has also recorded and performed regularly with groups such as The Brabant Ensemble, The Cambridge Singers, and The Oxford Camerata, and for eleven years sang as amember of the choir of All Saints', Margaret Street. She studies singing with Berty Rice. 

Kate teaches singing at Orchard House Prep school in Chiswick and St Cecilia's C of E secondary school in Wandsworth. As part of her work with Stile Antico, she regularly leads workshops with adult amateur singers, as well as young aspiring professional singers, as part of the annual Youth Consort. She is a Trustee of the Rodolfus Foundation, and regularly visits courses to lead masterclasses in consort singing.