Our Music Director

Benedict Preece is a conductor, passionate about working with both singers and instrumentalists. He maintains a busy schedule as Music Director of East Bridge Chorale, Caritas Chamber Choir and Graduati Singers and is currently a post-graduate choral conducting scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Benedict began his career as a Chorister of Canterbury Cathedral and sang for many years after as a tenor. At Trinity College of Music, London, he specialised in horn and natural horn under tutelage of Roger Montgomery and subsequently with Anthony Halstead. As an organist, Benedict studied with David Flood and both organ and composition with Neil Wright.

He developed his orchestral conducting with Stephen Portman (a former student of Monteux and Szell) and with Peter Stark. He has recently had conducting engagements with both of Kent’s professional orchestras, Festival Chamber Orchestra and Kent Sinfonia.

For ten years Benedict was Music Director of Sandwich Concert Band and has held numerous church music positions. For over five years, he was Head of Chapel Music, Head of Keyboard and Organist at an English boarding school.

Benedict is passionate about contemporary music having commissioned composers including Sarah Cattley and conducted premiere recordings of leading composers such as Sir James MacMillan, Cecilia McDowall, Gabriel Jackson, Phillip Cooke and David Conte amongst many others. His own choral compositions are regularly performed on both sides of the Atlantic and often featured on Caritas Chamber Choir recordings

He has released many recordings to critical acclaim with Caritas Chamber Choir. He is a signed artist with Ulysses Arts, a London-based record label, as both a conductor and an organist. 

To find out more about Benedict click here.