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The Scottish counter-tenor, Rory McCleery, began his musical career as a chorister at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh under Timothy Byram-Wigfield and Matthew Owens. He gained a double first in music at Oxford University as both Organ and Domus Academic scholar of St Peter’s College, subsequently completing an MSt in Musicology with Distinction in 2009. He studies singing with Giles Underwood.
Rory McCleery is the founder and musical director of The Marian Consort, with whom he performs across the UK and Europe. He has recorded three highly-lauded CD's with the ensemble, and they appear regularly on British and international radio. Under his direction, The Marian Consort has become renowned for its compelling interpretations of a wide range of repertoire, particularly the music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, but also works by contemporary British composers.
In addition to directing and performing with The Marian Consort, Rory McCleery greatly enjoys singing as a counter-tenor, working as a soloist and consort singer in concert and recording with specialist early music ensembles including the Monteverdi Choir (Director: John Eliot Gardiner), The Sixteen (Director: Harry Christophers), Gabrieli Consort (Director: Paul McCreesh), Contrapunctus, Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Dunedin Consort (Director: John Butt), The Tallis Scholars (Director: Peter Phillips), Le Concert d'Astrée (Director: Emmanuelle Haïm) and Cardinall’s Musick, under conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Harry Christophers, Paul McCreesh, John Butt, and Andrew Carwood.
Recent solo performances have included J.S. Bach's St John Passion (BWV 245) and St Matthew Passion (BWV 244); George Frideric Handel's Messiah and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, Croft's Odes for the Peace of Utrecht, Arvo Pärt's Passio, Purcell's Come ye Sons of Art, Ode to St Cecilia, and Welcome to All the Pleasures; Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610; Croatian early 17th Century music for voice and lute; Rameau's Grands Motets; and Benjamin Britten's Abraham and Isaac in venues across the UK and Europe. Rory has appeared as a soloist for broadcasts on ARTE, Radio France, BBC Radio 3 and German and Italian radio, and collaborates regularly with the Rose Consort of Viols.
Rory McCleery is much in demand as a conductor, chorus master and workshop leader, and is a passionate believer in the importance of music education and singing for young people, and is the assistant director of the Oxford Youth Choirs. He is also currently completing his doctoral research at the University of Oxford, centred on the French Renaissance composer Jean Mouton, and acts as an academic and programming consultant to festivals and many of the ensembles with whom he performs. |
