Sir David Willcocks
Paul Leddington Wright
Nielson & Young
Jonathan Willcocks and John Rutter
Elwyn Raymer

Sir David Willcocks has been a conductor/clinician for the International Church Music Festival since 1984. A world-class conductor, he graciously brings a wealth of musical insights to the festivals.

Sir David began his musical training as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, later winning scholarships to Clifton College and King's College, Cambridge. After a five-year period of military service, he was elected a Fellow of King's College and Conductor of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society. Subsequently he became Organist of Salisbury Cathedral, and later of Worcester Cathedral, conducting the Three Choirs Festival.

From 1950 to 1974, he was Director of Music at King's College and Lecturer in Music and Conductor of the Cambridge University Choral Society. From 1974 to 1984, he was Director of London's Royal College of Music. He was Musical Director of the London Bach Choir from 1960 to 1998

Under his direction, the London Bach Choir, King's College Choir and the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir have made many recordings of great choral works with England's leading orchestras. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1977 and holds honorary degrees in the United States and Canada as well as from the Universities of Bradford, Bristol, Exeter, Leicester and Sussex.

Paul Leddington Wright has been involved in the Festival since the first Coventry event in 1985, and was made Artistic Director in 1989.

Paul's professional training began when he won an organ scholarship to Cambridge University in 1970. From 1984 until 1995 he was Organist and Director of Music at Coventry Cathedral. In that capacity he toured all over Europe with the Cathedral Choir, as well as to Jamaica and the USA. The Choir has recorded, broadcast frequently on radio and television, and performed for Queen Elizabeth and the Pope John Paul under Paul's direction.

Paul's work is now primarily with the BBC, where he conducts for both radio and television, and is heavily involved with the weekly television programme, "Songs of Praise". He also arranges and composes extensively for the BBC and is in great demand as a composer writing pieces for choirs world-wide. He maintains links with Coventry Cathedral mainly through his position as conductor of the Cathedral's Choral Society, the Saint Michael's Singers, for whom he has been conductor since 1984. He has made over 20 CDs, many for Kingsway Music. Paul's music is published by Oxford, Hinshaw Music Inc., and Hal Leonard. He has composed and conducted several commissioned pieces for the ICMF.

Jonathan Willcocks and John Rutter have both served with Sir David as Co-Conductors for three of the annual Festivals.

Nielson & Young comprise one of the most active American duo-piano teams of our time. Since 1971, they have played several thousand performances around the globe. These concerts have taken place in venues as varied as major concert halls, churches and cathedrals, college and university campuses, convention centers, ocean-going cruise ships, and television studios.

Currently residing in Dallas, Texas, both artists are active church musicians and educators, having both held appointments as American university professors in California, Texas, Illinois, and Indiana.

Individually and jointly, they have performed in recital or with symphony orchestras in major musical centers on five continents. With ten duo-piano recordings to their credit, and four volumes of two-piano settings of hymn tunes in print, Nielson and Young have remained active composers and recording artists. They have been an important part of the International Church Music Festival since 1985. Visit the Nielson & Young Web Site.

Elwyn Raymer has served as the Executive Director of the Festival since its inception in 1984, while also serving between 1990 and 2001 as Vice President of the Gospel Music Division for BMG Music Publishing. In addition, Raymer is the Executive Director for the Church Music Publishers Association Action Fund, an organization dedicated to representing intellectual property rights for writers and publishers. Mr. Raymer is also President of his own company, FestCorps, Inc. the organization that plans and executes the annual Festival in Coventry, England, or Bern, Switzerland and Chester, England.

The initial dream for the International Church Music Festival was not that of a choir competition, but rather an international opportunity for church and community musicians to go to beautiful and historic settings to rehearse and perform with Europe's outstanding orchestras under the leadership of world-class conductors/clinicians.

The goal was to create customized European Tours for American adult choirs, bringing the choirs together with other choral groups from many different countries, for four days of musical and cultural experiences they could not duplicate at home. This combining of North American musicians with talented participants from all over Europe and beyond has fostered deep and lasting international friendships.