David Ogden Conductor
David Ogden is a professional conductor and composer. He conducts City of Bristol Choir, Exultate Singers, the Royal School of Church Music’s Millennium Youth Choir, South Bristol Voices (a youth choir which is part of the Bristol Voices outreach project run by Bristol Cathedral), and in his post of Head of the Bristol Choral Centre, he conducts the Bristol Schools Chamber Choirs.
David has conducted numerous concerts of all kinds of music, from jazz and songs from the shows to first performances by contemporary composers, along with an extensive repertoire of songs, anthems and over 100 large-scale choral works.
For over 20 years he has worked with numerous professional and amateur groups of all shapes and sizes in many fields of music making, including concerts, musical theatre and opera, community projects, primary and secondary level educational workshops, from small children’s groups to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
In the UK, he works extensively with the Royal School of Church Music, and with the BBC, conducting choirs on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and the World Service, and working as conductor, arranger and music adviser on BBC TV’s Songs of Praise.
His compositions are published by the RSCM and White Light Publishing, and are performed in schools and churches worldwide. His music is broadcast frequently on BBC radio and television.
In April 2008 one of his anthems was performed by a 250-strong choir in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI as part of a Papal Mass in the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium in Washington DC with a congregation of 40,000 people in attendance. In April 2009 he travelled to Assisi to conduct the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir in a week-long choral pilgrimage for the BBC, marking the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Order of St Francis. In 2004 David was made an Associate of the Royal School of Church Music in recognition of his services to church music.
The singers
Sopranos
Liz Bagshaw
Zoë Carter-Beedie
Victoria Fortin
Susan Green
Alice Harper
Elena Hazelgrove-Planel
Rachel Irwin
Joanna Osborn
Pippa Ramsay
Becky Quiney
Eleanor Roylance
Emmeline Smith
Antonia Taylor
Sarah Taylor
Alice Tyler
Beth Williamson
Jo Wyld
Altos
Kate Abbott
Felicity Ball
Rowan Cope
Alison Harris
Judith Ogden
Gillian Patch
Jessica Pillow
Sue Pontin
Barbara Rusbridge
Amy Slevin
Chloë Somers
Tenors
David Ball
David Brown
Richard Bunce
Daniel Bushby
Ian Carpenter
Oliver Condy
Andrew Grigg
Andrew Kirk
Guy Withers
Basses
Nick Abbott
Richard Bacon
Christopher Gray
Matthew Harper
Richard Johnson
Martin Le Poidevin
Mike Osborn
Nic Pillow
Tim Reader
Charlie Wyld
Vocal coach
Pamela Rudge
Repetiteurs / accompanists
Nick Abbott
Richard Johnson
Nic Pillow
Tim Reader
Sue Green Chairman
Sue is a founding member of Exultate Singers and sings soprano. She is also a member of Clifton Cathedral Choir, and sings with several ensembles in Bristol. A GP by profession, she is a keen photographer, traveller and cook.
Jessica May Treasurer
Jessica sings alto with Exultate Singers and is also a founder member of the choir. She is a Chartered Accountant and runs her own accountancy business, Pillow May Ltd. She is married to Nic Pillow, an Exultate bass, and has a baby daughter.
Judith Ogden Publicity & design
Judith is a freelance graphic and web designer, and sings alto with Exultate Singers. She is married to David and has four children.
Barbara Rusbridge Secretary
Barbara sings alto with Exultate. Having retired from teaching in schools, she is now a freelance musician, teaching piano and singing, as well as composing and arranging. Her four children having flown the nest she is enjoying gardening and learning to play the viola. She also does part-time secretarial work at the University of Bristol.
Mike Osborn Concert Manager
A trained architect and member of the RIBA, Mike is a bass and has sung with the BBC Symphony Chorus in London and Music Box Children’s Opera Group, Bristol. Currently he also sings with City of Bristol Choir. He is married to Jo, an Exultate soprano.
Martin Le Poidevin
Exultate site programmer
Martin is a freelance singer, vocal coach, singing teacher, writer and web programmer. He is a familar face on the concert platform in the South West as a soloist. Martin built the Exultate online shop and behind-the-scenes site programming.
Ian Carpenter
Committee member
Ian sings tenor with Exultate Singers and is also a composer, having written over 120 pieces, including several for the choir. Both of Exultate's CDs feature his music. Ian is an engineer and has a PhD in Manufacturing Engineering.
Christopher Gray
Committee member
An ex-chorister of Trinity College, Cambridge , technical writer, actor, online deputy editor of Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, monkey zoo keeper, dourocouli de-louser, father, software programmer, researcher for BBC2’s QI, photographer.
Richard Johnson
Committee member
Richard is a Patent Attorney and is a Partner at Mewburn Ellis. He was Organ Scholar at Oriel College, Oxford. He sings bass with Exultate frequently accompanies the choir and plays organ solos in concerts. Richard works alongside David Ogden as Organist of Westbury-on-Trym Parish Church and repetiteur for City of Bristol Choir.
Pippa Ramsay
Committee member
Pippa sings soprano and is an English teacher at Gordano School. She studied at Brasenose College, Oxford with David Cameron and rowed in the Brasenose Women’s First VIII and is the mother of two girls.