John Walker  (harpsichord)

John was born in Sussex where he is much in demand as a performer and teacher. He plays frequently in chamber music which is the music-making he most enjoys. He is a graduate of the Royal Schools of Music, where he studied piano, organ and harpsichord, gaining his ARCM with Honours and the Geoffrey Tankard Harpsichord Prize.

John is organist of Pyecombe and Clayton churches as well as accompanist to the University of Brighton Choir, where he also teaches the piano. John was appointed accompanist to the Ditchling Choral Society, now the Sussex Chorus, in 1976. This year he therefore celebrates 30 years with that choir, playing the piano, organ and harpsichord in many of their concerts.

John has travelled widely, playing in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South America, Holland, Austria, Romania and Moldova. He founded the Constanza Piano Quartet in Lewes in 1993 to raise funds to help towards cultural exchanges with Romanian musicians and has visited Romania on several occasions.

Abbi Temple  (soprano)

Abbi read music at Royal Holloway, University of London, and was awarded a Distinction for her advanced postgraduate diploma at Trinity College of Music in 2006. Supported by vocal department and choral scholarships, she studied with Hazel Wood, Robert Aldwinckle & Eugene Asti and took part in masterclasses with Michael Chance and Emma Kirkby.

While studying at Trinity Abbi sang in many opera, oratorio and recital performances, playing Euridice in Trinity's highly acclaimed 2005 production of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Polly Peachum in the 2006 production of The Beggar's Opera. Other opera roles include Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Giannetta (L'Elisir d'Amore) and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas). Abbi enjoys performing regularly with choral societies and ensembles - recent oratorio performances have included Monteverdi Vespers 1610, Mozart Mass in C Minor, Brahms Requiem and Mendelssohn Elijah. Abbi also enjoys giving regular song recitals, and has recently performed Mozart Exultate Jubilate and Pergolesi Stabat Mater with the Greenwich Baroque Orchestra.

Stephanie Seeney  (contralto)

Stephanie Seeney completed her Post Graduate training at Trinity College of Music in 2006, studying with Alison Wells, with whom she still studies. This followed undergraduate studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama from which she graduated in 2000. Stephanie has also spent several years as a head of music in a secondary school,
and as a peripatetic teacher.

Stephanie regularly performs with choral societies, choirs and other groups as soloist, and performances include Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Haydn's Nelson Mass, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem (St John's, Smith Square), Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music and Vivaldi's Gloria. Future plans include Elgar's Sea Pictures with orchestra in February 2007.
Her opera credits include Lockit in John Gay's Beggar's Opera (TCM), and Caesar in Handel's Julius Caesar (Runaway Opera). She has also performed in various opera scenes including The Medium (Menotti) and Beatrice and Benedict (Berlioz).

Michael Goldthorpe  (tenor)

Michael Goldthorpe was born York. He sang as a boy treble at St Michael-le-Belfrey (opposite York Minster) and played horn in York City Brass Band. He taught in secondary schools, and from 1966-7 studied at the same time at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he won the Mirsky Memorial Prize for Lieder. In 1968 he joined the BBC Singers.  Since 1970 Michael has travelled and worked with Intimate Opera, The London Opera Group, Kent Opera, The Chelsea Opera Group, The English Bach Festival, L'Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing and The Royal Opera Company Covent Garden. He became closely identified with the French Baroque revival of the seventies and eighties, making many records and television appearances.  A performance of Lucrezia Borgia filmed in 1980 at Covent Garden for BBC Television, in which he sang with Alfredo Kraus and Dame Joan Sutherland, has been released on DVD.

He has taught for London University, The London College of Music, Trinity College of Music and Roehampton Institute, and in addition is an examiner for TCM and the RCM. From September this year he took over as Musical Director of Lymington Choral Society.

Michael has always been equally interested in light music. In 1994 he was awarded a scholarship to research, catalogue, record and perform 19thC British and American Ballads. This led to the formation of The Bold Balladiers, a group of singers, actors and instrumentalists which has toured the UK visiting concert halls, schools, and community outreach venues.

Andrew Thompson  (bass)

Andrew Thompson has recently graduated from Trinity College of Music's Post-Graduate diploma course. His first degree was in History of Art at the University of York.

Andrew has considerable experience as an interpreter of baroque repertoire. He is a regular member of the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and also a core member of the Ebor Singers, who run a nationally acclaimed concert series in York Minster as well as touring regularly. Andrew has performed as Christus both in the St Matthew Passion with Lincoln Choral Society at Lincoln Cathedral and in the St John Passion with the Corelli Orchestra and the Oriel Singers in Cheltenham. As bass soloist he took part in the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists' performances of Purcell's Fairy Queen in the Mitte Europa festival and recently as Achilla in Handel's Julius Caesar at Blackheath Halls, London.
 
Recent engagements include, Haydn's Creation at Pershore Abbey, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow with Opera UK at the Bloomsbury Theatre and, as part of TCM's Robert Schumann Festival, Myrthen at the Old Royal Naval College.