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Musical Director - Vicente Chavarría
Vicente is conductor, composer and scholar based in London. He has worked with the Croydon Youth Orchestra, Oxford University Orchestra, Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra, and Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra, and participated in masterclasses with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. A graduate of the Royal College of Music, he has worked with all of the RCM orchestras and assisted such conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bernard Haitink, Andrew Gourlay, Maxim Vengerov, and Holly Mathieson.
Vicente was Assistant Conductor for six productions of the RCM Opera Studio and assisted conductor Michael Rosewell at the English Touring Opera.
A versatile musician, as a singer he performs with Dowland Works (with Dame Emma Kirkby) and the BBC Symphony Chorus, and has previously performed with LASchola, Bach-Collegium San Diego, the Boston Camerata and has participated in masterclasses with a variety of artists including Martyn Brabbins, Jac van Steen and the Hilliard Ensemble. A pupil of Morten Lauridsen and Haris Kittos, his compositions and arrangements have been performed around the world.
Vicente holds previous degrees from the Universities of Miami and Southern California (USA), and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Leuven (Belgium). At the Royal College of Music he studied conducting with Peter Stark, Howard Williams, and Martyn Brabbins. He was previously the Artistic Director and Founder of the early music ensembles Flos Campi and La Monarca as well as the Fra Angelico Chamber Choir and Sibelius Camerata.
In his very limited spare time he is the host of the podcast Singing For Your Supper and enjoys relaxing with a bit of plane spotting and cookery.
Vicente's Compositions & Arrangements
Our Multifaceted Musical Director!
The Handful is fortunate to have a Musical Director that is not only gifted at conducting and leading our choir, but is also an accomplished composer and arranger. A pupil of Morten Lauridsen and Haris Kittos, Vicente's compositions and arrangements have been performed around the world. On this page are a few of Vicente’s pieces that the choir has enjoyed performing since he joined The Handful in 2021.
The Gloucestershire Wassail
Arranged for mixed voices by Vicente Chavarría
Vicente arranged The Gloucestershire Wassail for The Handful’s concert Serenity: Songs of Blessing & Reflection on 04 December 2021. The arrangement marked the occasion of a New Year and new page together, the performance being Vicente’s first with The Handful and the start of a new concert season following the silence of the covid pandemic.
Since then, The Gloucestershire Wassail has been published by Oxford University Press in Carols for Choirs 6, which can be purchased here.
The Handful was proud to premiere this arrangement for Vicente and is delighted that other choirs will get the chance to sing this festive piece. If you’re performing it or know of a choir that is, do let us know on social media and we’ll give you a shout out! (Instagram: handfulsingers | Twitter: @HandfulSIngers)
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
Arranged for mixed voices and hammered dulcimer by Vicente Chavarría
This arrangement was written for The Handful’s programme Where All Is Peace, featuring British and American Christmas music and first performed on 09 December 2023. The arrangement featured two well-known settings of Edmund Sears’ text: Richard Storrs Willis’ “Carol” is the most well-known in the United States, while “Noel” (Sir Arthur Sullivan’s adaptation of an English melody) is traditional in the United Kingdom.
Sears’ text is one of awe at the glory of the angels announcing the birth of Christ, but it is also one of peace after a time of strife. Sears, a Unitarian minister from Massachusetts, wrote the poem during a personal low, and the Mexican-American War, just concluded, was no doubt fresh in his mind. In its own way, this arrangement serves as a response to the Tippett settings of the spirituals. This arrangement sets verses 1, 4, and 5 of the original hymn; these verses emphasise the peace and comfort that Christmas brings.
“I took advantage of having Rob Millett play dulcimer for us in this concert and used it as a way of uniting the two tunes of this popular carol, one from each side of the Pond. It is an homage to a beloved song that belies the depth of the poetry attached to it.”
This arrangement of It Came Upon The Midnight Clear is not published, so it’s just for us… for now. Feel free to get in touch with us for a perusal copy!
Jean
Composed for mixed voices and piano by Vicente Chavarría
A lyrical setting of the Robert Burns poem. Set in a folk-song style, this arrangement captures the flavour of Scotland's national poet in song. It was published in 2018 and introduced to The Handful for their concert titled The Love of the Poets on 25 June 2022. The Handful’s performance was the UK premiere of the piece.
Robert Burns’ colourful life included the many women he became involved with, but it was Jean Armour who married him (above her parent’s concerns). Burns indubitably loved Jean, who inspired many of his poems. The text for this arrangement was written around 1788 after an absence from home. Like many Burns inspired in his own life, this present-day setting of Jean is, first and foremost, a song, whose lyrical melody remains front and centre.
Jean was published by Alliance and can be purchased here.
