Clara Phelps

Clara graduated in 2023 with a music degree from the University of York where she sang with choirs including The 24, Animas, Vox and the choir of St Lawrence Church. She is a soprano Lay Clerk at Manchester Oratory and a member of the National Youth Chamber Choir and Kantos. Clara is currently working as part of the Development Team at the Royal Northern College of Music and is a Music Youth Worker at HideOut Youth Zone. She is looking forward to her second year as a Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholar.

Clementine Thompson

Clementine is entering her third year as an undergraduate at the RNCM with Elizabeth Ritchie. She has enjoyed performing widely as a soloist and in consorts and choirs in Manchester. She was awarded the Pamela Hart Third Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary Competition, as well as the Elsie Thurston and James Martin Oncken Song Prizes at the RNCM. She regularly performs with the recently formed vocal sextet Ventis Vocal Ensemble who were the 2024 winners of the Emmanuel Prize and explore folk and world repertoire. She has also appeared with the Mancunium Consort at the Bridgewater Hall as part of the Live at Lunchtime Series. 

She is excited to be joining the Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars this year!

Eve Codman

Eve is a soprano currently in her third year of studying at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Yvonne Howard. Eve regularly sings in several choirs such as the RNCM chamber choir, Holy Name Consort, National Youth Choir and National Youth Chamber Choir – having most recently sung Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Proms.

Prior to attending the RNCM, Eve studied at Chetham’s School of Music which was where she discovered a love of opera after playing the role of Belinda in scenes of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. More recently Eve took part in the RNCM’s production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden as a member of the chorus.

Eve has also been enjoying exploring world folk music with new female vocal sextet Ventis.

Amber Moeller

Amber is an alto, pianist and cellist currently in her 2nd year reading Music at the University of Manchester. Hailing from Canada, her passion for choral singing began in 6th Form when she joined a church choir specialising in early music. Renaissance music has remained a key interest, and Amber enjoyed taking part in the 2024 Stile Antico Youth Consort Course. In Manchester, she will be singing services at Holy Name, the University Chaplaincy, this year after spending last academic year as a Choral Scholar at Salford Cathedral. She is also a member of the Rodolfus Choir and loves singing in close harmony ensembles.

Eibhlin Eddy

Eibhlin always had a love for music. When she joined the Belfast Philharmonic Kids Choir at the age of eight she felt comfortable straight away, and as she gained more experience her love of choral music grew. Having the opportunity to work with members of the Norwegian choir EGK two years in a row was an unforgettable learning experience and amazing for her development. Eibhlin loves being challenged and finding a comfortable place in an environment that originally felt intimidating and out of her comfort zone. Choral music has always had the ability to move her very deeply, and having the opportunity to perform live to audiences and translate these deep feelings and emotions in such a raw and exposed way is incredibly special to Eibhlin. She has especially loved forming a new choral group called Ventis with some other girls from college. She has grown as a musician even more since beginning to sing with them, as her initiative and intuition as an ensemble singer have strengthened as she’s explored new styles of music from different cultures.

Nia Edwards

Nia Edwards is a 22-year-old Singaporean-British mezzo-soprano studying at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) under the tutelage of Elizabeth Ritchie.

As a soloist, Nia made her orchestral debut in 2021 with the Orchestra of Music Makers in Singapore, as Semele in Handel’s Semele and Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. Since moving to Manchester, she has been a featured soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil (Vespers), Mozart’s Missa brevis in C Major, and Schubert’s Mass in G. Nia also enjoys vocal and cross-instrumental collaboration immensely, notably with French Horn in her performance as Cesare of Handel’s Va tacito e nascosto in an RNCM Lunchtime Concert (2024).

She has recently completed her third year of Undergraduate studies at the RNCM, singing the works of Mozart, Handel, Wolf, and Richard Rodney Bennett in her recital, and is very excited to enter her final year at RNCM.

Aaron Peters

Aaron's vocal passion began in 2017 when performing An English Coronation with Gabrieli Roar and Paul McCreesh, an opportunity presented to him by the DRET youth choir. This inspired Aaron to push singing and performing further into more than just a hobby. From 2019-2021 Aaron joined the Northamptonshire Music & Performing Arts Trust County Youth Choir and was a Foundation Artist with the Nevil Holt Opera, performing chorus roles in La Traviata, Don Giovanni, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In 2021, ABRSM awarded Aaron a scholarship to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Sarah Rhodes. Along with Chorus roles in RNCM’s Die Fledermaus and Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden, Aaron performed solo excerpts of the Messiah with London City Sinfonia and Matthew Kofi Waldren. Aaron has also sung in the RNCM’s chamber choir, singing with the EGK ensemble, baritone Roderick Williams, and conductor Edward Gardener at the BBC Proms.

Nick Simper

From an early age, music has been a great passion of Nick's. Being a chorister at Durham Cathedral at the age of seven hurled him into the world of music, and he's never looked back. Throughout his life, he has involved himself in as many musical opportunities as he could with the aim of improving his skills as a musician, getting a glimpse of the professional musical environment, and making new friends and connections, which he hopes to take with me far into the future.

One of his greatest musical ambitions, aside from singing, is to become a composer, writing pieces for choirs and orchestras, perhaps even for film. He has always found the way a composer can communicate through the language of music, and bring life to a text or film, inspiring. Performing his own music, especially with a group of fellow musicians, is something he strives to accomplish.

Edward Wenborn

Originally from Cambridge, England, Edward is a 24-year-old baritone currently studying Vocal Studies and Opera under Quentin Hayes at the Royal Northern College of Music. He began classical singing at the age of 10 and throughout his school career was a member of various semi-professional and professional ensembles such as the Eton College Chapel Choir and the Rodolfus Choir. In 2018 he went to Durham University, where he held a choral scholarship at St Chad’s College, and graduated with an undergraduate degree in Classics in which he achieved a 2:1. During this time he developed a love of opera, performing numerous roles with Durham Opera Ensemble, and was notably cast as ‘Pig’ in Leeds Youth Opera’s 2022 production of Jonathan Dove’s ‘The Enchanted Pig.’ Since joining RNCM he has sung with their Chamber Choir and opera chorus, and has also recorded and performed in Verdi’s ‘Simon Boccanegra’ alongside the Hallé Orchestra and Opera North Chorus. Edward is excited to sing for the Diocese of Manchester, and looks forward to seeing what the year will bring.