Liz Dewar
Choir leader
Liz grew up in Surrey and moved to Dorset in the eighties, where she was a teacher and musician. She became of member of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, sang with local choirs, led music workshops and conducted several choirs including the Isle of Purbeck Arts Club Choir, The Dorset Philharmonic Choir and Silton Singers. Liz was a Music (and Literacy) specialist in schools in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.
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On taking early retirement from teaching, Liz and her husband moved to the rural and unspoilt countryside of Brittany where Liz formed and conducted various choirs and barbershop groups, both in English and French. One of her highlights was conducting a massed choir of 250 (mainly French) singers at a song festival.
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Liz was a teacher of flute, recorder, clarinet, alto sax and piano for many years – having gained a Grade 8 in flute-playing under the tutelage of Margaret Ogonovsky in London. Whilst in France, Liz taught music to children in a village primary school and to residents of a retirement complex in her local town. Since returning to the UK, Liz has worked in care homes in the south west as an Activities Organiser, running art clubs and music workshops.
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Neil Sissons
Accompanist
Our accompanist is Neil Sissons, who studied piano, organ and electronic composition at The Royal College of Music in London, subsequently gaining an organ scholarship to Oxford University, where he read Music. Since then he has had a very varied musical career, including:
Repetiteuring Batignano Festival, the BBC Three “Flashmob” Operas
Accompanying Purcell Room, lieder with Stephen Varcoe, Official
Accompanist of the Oxford Music Festival for more than 40 years
Teaching Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Sylvia Young
School, piano in Dorset schools
Lecturing Popular Music and Music Technology, South Thames
College London
Conducting The Oxford Playhouse, Paisiello’s “Nina” for the Oxford
University Opera Club. Abbey Road Studios for “Scream 3” and Adidas advert. The Soviet State Symphony Orchestra of Cinematography in Moscow)
Composing ITV holiday programme “Getaways”, Edinburgh Festival “Sundance”
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Playing at Ronnie Scott’s Club in Soho.
He is currently organist of St. Peter’s; Parish Church of Bournemouth and lives in Kings Stag and is the author of “Read Music from Scratch” published by Boosey&Hawkes.