Choral Scholars 2025-26
Thames Philharmonic Choir is delighted to have appointed four Choral Scholars who are singing with us this season. They are:
Isabella Hulbert
Soprano
Isabella Hulbert is a soprano in her final undergraduate year at The Royal Academy of Music studying with John Lattimore.
She embodies her innovative approach to programming and performance in The Juno Duo with Guitarist Maryna Vosmirova. Together, they have given concerts in festivals across the UK, with highlights including The Proms at St Judes, The Petworth Proms, The International Guitar Summit, The London Guitar Festival and a series of recitals at Kings Place as Young Artists of The International Guitar Foundation. They are resident artists at the London Transport Museum, and have released their recordings from the VOCES8 Centre, as awardees of the Young Artist Recording Scheme at The Royal Academy of Music.
Her recent oratorio solo work includes The Messiah with Ian Tracey, Nelson Mass and Vespare de Confessore with Piers Maxim; she also premiered the solo role in Maxim’s new work A Holy Heavenly Chime. She was a soloist in both the Royal Academy of Music’s Opera Makers and at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival, developing new operatic work for the stage, and she performed as Papagena for Opera Greenwich in June 2025. Her writing on composers for ballet is published for Voices of British Ballet.
She is excited to return to a choral environment following her first vocal training as a chorister for the Royal Shakespeare Company (The Merchant of Venice, 2015), and at Worcester Cathedral.
Eve Garrard
Mezzo-soprano
Eve is currently working as a Graduate Music Assistant at Whitgift School and regularly sings with the choirs at Croydon Minster.
She graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2023 in Music, and held a scholarship with the Choir of Royal Holloway (Director: Rupert Gough). During her final year she also held a scholarship with the Choir of
St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, and was recorded on the choir's recent CD release: 'This Spiritual House'. Since then, she returned to her home city of Norwich where she undertook a choral scholarship with the Cathedral Choir. She was a member of Genesis Sixteen (2024-25), and is currently a member of Vox Urbane next Gen.
Choral highlights include Handel's Dixit Dominus with Genesis Sixteen at the Dora Stouzker Hall, Royal Welsh College, and Handel's Messiah at Cadogan Hall (Director: Nicholas Kraemer), English Chamber Orchestra. Recent solo highlights include Hadyn's Nelson Mass (Norwich School Choral Society), John Rutter's Feel the Spirit (Hampton Choral Society), and a recital of songs by Campion and Dowland at The Octagon Chapel, Norwich with eminent lutenist Matthew Wadsworth.
Eve looks forward to expanding her choral repertoire with Thames Philharmonic Choir and improving her skills under the mentorship of Harry and Richard, as well as enjoying the social aspects of the group (and the cake!).
Benjamin Miller
Tenor
Benjamin Miller is a British Tenor from London, currently completing a PhD in Photonics at King’s College London, where he is entering his final year. Whilst reading Physics at Imperial College London he was a recipient of the Ash Music Scholarship, in partnership with the Royal College of Music. There he studied under the tutelage of David Rendall and Ben Johnson and was an active member of the Imperial College Chamber Choir. At King’s, Ben has sung with the Choir of King’s College for three years as the recipient of the Harrow Choral Scholarship, having performed as tenor soloist in the Rachmaninov Vespers and Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and is currently studying with Robert Rice.
Ben also sings as a part of Vox Urbane, a professional vocal ensemble conducted by Dan Ludford-Thomas, dedicated to improving access and diversity in the choral world. This has included performances of Poulenc’s Figure Humaine as well as workshops with school children. He has also sung as a soloist for numerous oratorio works, including Mozart’s Requiem with Lewisham Choral Society, Bach’s Magnificat with Dulwich Choral Society, Stainer’s Crucifixion with the King’s College London Chamber Choir, and most recently Handel’s Solomon with Eastcote and Ruislip Choral Society.
Ben was a Choral Scholar at St John’s Notting Hill for 4 years. He currently deputises regularly in many London Churches, recently singing at St Bride’s Fleet Street, St Paul’s Knightsbridge and Southwark Cathedral.
Ben Hendry-Watkins
Bass
Ben began singing as a treble in the Nottingham Boys Choir, and was selected to perform for HM Queen Elizabeth II in her Diamond Jubilee Year. As a baritone, Ben was then awarded a choral scholarship to study history at Magdalen College Oxford, where he graduated with a double first. Ben subsequently sang as a lay clerk at Magdalen, and with the Choir of The Queen’s College, Oxford. During this time Ben performed in various concerts both in the UK and abroad, including the American Cathedral in Paris, the Antwerp AMUZ, and Salamanca Cathedral. Ben also features on several disks recorded by Queen’s and Magdalen, and performed in radio broadcasts with both choirs. Ben was a choral scholar with the Oxford Bach Soloists in 2021 and has performed in several concerts as a soloist with the group, most recently appearing as Pilate in Bach’s St John Passion in 2023.
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Ben now is a freelance singer performing as a soloist and with choral ensembles across the UK. Recent engagements include Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with HM Chapel Royal Choir of the Tower of London, Brahms’ Requiem with the Nottingham Harmonic Choir, Mozart's Requiem and Solemn Vespers with Southampton Choral Society, Stanford’s Songs of the Fleet with New Choir, solos in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and the role of Christus and Bass solos in Bach’s St John Passion with Magdalen College Oxford, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Burford Singers. Ben recently performed the role of Herzog in Marcello Palazzo’s new Opera Mount Herzog which debuted at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone as part of the Tête à Tête festival.
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Ben has won several prizes for his singing; most recently (2024) he was awarded Southwell and District Choral Society’s bursary for young musicians, and recently won first prize in Nottingham Bach Choir’s Liz Chant bursary competition.​ Ben studies singing in London with David Pollard. He will begin studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in September, where he has been awarded a full scholarship. In September 2025 he will become a member of the renowned London Oratory Choir, under the direction of Patrick Russill. Ben is very grateful for the generous support of the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Winship Foundation, the Wavendon Foundation, the Nottingham Gordon Memorial Trust, the Perry Trust Gift Fund, the Hywel Davies Trust for Young Musicians, and the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust in allowing him to pursue his postgraduate studies in singing.
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