Anthony Gray
Anthony Gray has been Musical and Creative Director of Halifax Choral Society since September 2023.
Born in Scarborough, Anthony was a chorister at Blackburn Cathedral before studying the organ with Edward Scott and Alexander Woodrow. Following a period as Organ Scholar at Bradford Cathedral, he read Music at Robinson College, Cambridge, where he held the Basil Shone Organ Scholarship and worked extensively as an organist, accompanist and conductor.
His musical career has encompassed cathedral music, choral conducting, composition and musical theatre. He has performed and recorded with a number of leading collegiate choirs and ensembles, touring throughout the UK, Europe and Asia, and has appeared as organist and continuo player in major works including Mendelssohn's Elijah, Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Handel's Messiah.
Alongside his work with Halifax Choral Society, Anthony is Director of Music at St Wilfrid's Church, Harrogate, and Sub-Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Bradford Cathedral. He is also active as a teacher, accompanist and adjudicator, and serves as a Deputy Musical Director of Harrogate Choral Society.
As a composer, Anthony's music is performed widely across the UK. He was shortlisted for the BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition and won the Harold Smart Memorial Composition Competition in 2022. He has received commissions from a variety of choirs, schools and musical organisations, and is particularly passionate about promoting new music alongside the established choral repertoire.
Since joining Halifax Choral Society, Anthony has brought a spirit of ambition, creativity and musical excellence to the choir, combining respect for its distinguished heritage with a commitment to broadening repertoire, developing singers and engaging new audiences.
Q. Did you grow up in a musical household?
A. Yes – my parents are both musical and actually met in a choir. Music was always part of family life, and through my father's work with Blackburn Cathedral I joined the Cathedral Choir as a treble. The guidance of several outstanding musicians there was a formative part of my musical journey.
Q. What music inspires you most?
A. I am a great lover of choral music in all its forms, particularly the Baroque and contemporary repertoires, as well as many of the great Romantic oratorios. I am also a keen jazz enthusiast and enjoy exploring ways of engaging audiences with classical music in fresh and imaginative ways. Promoting new music is especially important to me.
Q. You studied at Cambridge as an organ scholar. What was that experience like?
A. Holding an organ scholarship can feel like a full-time job alongside a degree. Alongside my college commitments, I played for churches and colleges across Cambridge and London, directed theatre productions and worked with a wide range of ensembles. It was an incredibly varied and rewarding time.
Q. What have been some of your musical highlights?
A. There have been many memorable moments, including hearing my own music performed by the BBC Singers, arranging music for Southwell Minster's Easter Day broadcast on BBC Radio 3, playing the organ at the Royal Albert Hall at the age of fifteen, and touring internationally with Cambridge choirs.
Q. What attracted you to Halifax Choral Society?
A. Halifax Choral Society has an extraordinary history and reputation. As Britain's oldest choral society, it combines a remarkable heritage with a commitment to ambitious music-making. I was excited by the choir's tradition of performing some of the finest works in the repertoire and by the opportunity to help shape its future.
Q. What is your vision for the choir?
A. I want to build on the choir's strengths while continuing to broaden its repertoire and musical horizons. Alongside performing major choral masterpieces, I am keen to explore a wider range of styles, support singers in developing their musicianship, encourage new audiences, and ensure that opportunities for high-quality choral singing remain open and accessible to as many people as possible.
