CANTATE - Key Persons
Adrian Ricketts works in the insurance industry as an actuary. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the trombone in a brass band and he supports Norwich City football club. His favourite holiday is on the ski slopes! His son Toby sings in the Cantate senior choir.
Carrie Ricketts is a maths lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. She is the non-musical one of the family, but she loves a bit of out-of-tune karaoke! Her hobbies are reading and running, and she has run several half marathons. Her son Toby sings in the Cantate senior choir.
Charlie Penn graduated from the University of Birmingham where he studied piano with Joseph Middleton. He is building up an increasingly busy freelance timetable as a versatile young musician specialising in work with choirs of all ages and abilities. Charlie is a Britten-Pears Young Artist, previously joining the music staff for the award winning Grimes on the Beach in Aldeburgh, and recently performing on organ, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. On stage, he has appeared in Orpheus, an original piece devised and performed by Little Bulb Theatre, and as Keyboard 1 in an exciting new orchestration of Threepenny Opera for the renowned Salzburg festival. He has even made a brief appearance on the BBC's The One Show, teaching Lee Mack some basic piano vamping!
Alongside his work with Cantate, Charlie is the Musical Director of Phoenix Chorale, Cambridge - an auditioned SATB choir for young singers in and around Cambridge. He is also accompanist to the Amici and Ely Consort groups, and teaches piano at the Stephen Perse Foundation. Whilst living in Birmingham he was Director of Stone Choral Society and a visiting tutor at the Birmingham School of Acting. Charlie is in demand as an accompanist and has experience working with students at both the University of Birmingham and the Birmingham Conservatoire. He has also worked with a number of renowned soloists including Sir Willard White and Wendy Dawn Thompson. Charlie's abilities and willingness to tackle any style of music have led him to work with many prestigious musical organisations including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Armonico Consort and the national singing programme, Sing Up! He has also assisted in the running of the choral course at the international Sherborne Summer School of Music and regularly directs very popular singing courses for the Cambridge Holiday Orchestra Association.
I have never really been able to decide which genre of music I am most passionate about. I grew up fervently determined to become an orchestral percussionist, took a side step in the direction of ‘rock drumming' and eventually settled on something sort of between the two. But, well before catching the drumming ‘bug', I loved to sing and was, for many years, a member of the Harlow Boys Choir under the direction of Michael Kibblewhite. A broken voice led me to Harlow Chorus and still more wonderful singing opportunities. Sadly, though, the life of a busy freelance musician eventually stole me away from singing, my work with orchestras, in the studio and tours with various bands affording little time for such pleasures. Or so I thought! Way back in December 1994, I found myself in a church in Stevenage playing drums and percussion for a newly formed choir, once again under the direction of Michael Kibblewhite! It was immediately obvious to me that the fresh faces that stood to perform the Christmas favourites offered something very special indeed. I loved it. And I have played in almost every concert Cantate has given since. I am so very fortunate to be able to work with many fantastic musicians on wonderful and creative projects, but Cantate has been a major part of my life for the best part of a quarter of a century. Concerts, recordings, tours… there have been so many magical moments over the years which I consider real career highlights. And the icing on the cake for me is being able to combine my two musical passions and coach teams of Cantate members in the art of percussion performance. Those in the know will agree that we have performed some wild stuff over the years and there is still plenty of drumming, bucketing, frying panning and more to come! It's been such a privilege being a part of Cantate and having the opportunity to work with such brilliant young people. Long may it last.
Huw works in the pharmaceutical sector by day and, in his occasional spare time, loves choral singing, family time, hill-walking and swimming - and has probably attended more operas than is healthy for anyone! He has been greatly impressed by the quality and aspiration of Cantate since his children joined in 2017. He is keen to support critical planning and ensure sustainability through current challenges, while also trying to catch up on historical gift aid claims to aid the choir's finances.
Job Titles:
- Music Director
- Music Staff Member
Lucy is a passionate music educator and conducts a number of local, county and national choirs. She has conducted the National Youth Choir of Great Britain Boys' Choir since January 2018 and was recently appointed Principal Conductor for the National Boys' Choir from 2020-2023. She is also a guest conductor for the NYCGB Chamber Choir and section coach for the National Youth Choirs of Scotland.
In addition to Cantate, Lucy conducts the Taplow Children's and Boys' Choirs, the Kingston Youth and Training Orchestras and the Farnham Training Choir. She also enjoys working with adults: as Director of Music at Dartford Parish Church she conducts the choir of choral scholars, and has been conductor of the Reading A440 Choir since 2016. In January 2020 she will begin conducting the Abbeydale Singers, an award-winning Sheffield-based chamber choir. Lucy regularly runs singing workshops throughout the UK and conducts over 2000 children in annual singing festivals for massed primary schools in Kingston and Medway.
Lucy Joy Morris grew up in Berkshire and went on to study music at Queens' College,
My association with Cantate goes back to 2008 when we heard the choir performing in the music festival at Ashwell Church, Hertfordshire. We enrolled our daughter the next term, aged 8, and she worked her way through training/junior and senior choirs, finally leaving in 2018. Attending Cantate was a huge part of her childhood; both in terms of the incredible musical experience it gave her and the friends she made. It was particularly important given that neither her primary nor secondary schools had any musical provision -no choirs, orchestras or anything else! I have been helping out with Cantate in various ways from the start, first at concerts, then as a ‘wardrobe' manager and I finally joined the Trustees in 2018. I became Chair in April 2019.