Biography

I am a collaborative musician and music educator based in Leicester.  I have a broad portfolio encompassing one-to-one teaching, group coaching, accompanying, and community music. 

I have over twenty years’ experience as a singing teacher working in schools, colleges and universities.  Several of my students have gone on to study singing at UK music colleges, and several have won choral scholarships at Oxbridge and other universities, as well as two with Genesis Sixteen.  Several former students are now flourishing professional singers, including two currently on contract with the Royal Opera House.  I specialise in working with young and changing voices, and currently enjoy working with individual singing students, and with school choirs at English Martyrs’ School and Leicester High School.  I very much enjoy my work with young adult singers at the University of Leicester, as both a visiting tutor for music scholars and as vocal coach for the university’s chamber choir.

Collaborative piano is a key part of my working week, and I am in demand as an accompanist for exams, diplomas and auditions.  As a repetiteur, I enjoy working with a wide variety of singers, including artists with Waterperry Opera and City Music Foundation.  As a former organ scholar at Corpus Christi College, Oxford I have a strong background in both solo and liturgical organ playing, and continue to perform regularly as an organist for visiting choirs at cathedrals around the UK. 

Singing is the foundation of my musical identity.  I was a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, and sang daily with an excellent chapel choir at school throughout my teens.  I have been fortunate to sing with excellent adult choirs including the Schola Cantorum of Oxford and the Choir of St Mary’s, Nottingham, and went on to sing professionally for seven years as a tenor lay clerk at Lincoln Cathedral and Southwell Minster.  I still enjoy occasional singing engagements, most recently singing tenor on a CD recording released by Divine Arts in 2023.

As a conductor I have held a number of church choir posts, as well as having served as Chorus Master for the Leicester Philharmonic Choir, and Musical Director of Lincoln Sounds Barbership Chorus (UK small chorus champions in 2008).  I am currently Musical Director of Saffron Singers, a project-based choir for experienced graduate singers, which has recently undertaken a residency at Manchester Cathedral, with another planned for Liverpool Cathedral in 2023.  I was privileged to co-direct a recent CD recording with Leicester University Chamber Choir of music by choral composer Paul Edwards.  I enjoy guest conducting work and depping, and have worked with Nottingham Bach Choir, Leicester Cathedral Choir, Leicester University Chamber Choir, and St James the Greater Choir.

In community music, I enjoy working as an animateur and outreach coordinator.  Working for the Sing Up! programme in Lincolnshire, I led workshops and helped to grow new choirs in dozens of primary schools across the county.  In Nottinghamshire I worked as a trumpet player and youth mentor with flagship diocesan praise band Saints in Praise.  I currently coordinate a community praise band at St Anne’s in Leicester.  I have directed a variety of youth singing projects, including Vitalize Youth Choir (Hinckley), and a James Bond-themed massed choir with secondary schools in Wigston. At Attenborough Arts Centre I ran a popular Singing for Fun course for many years, which included working to widen access to music for adults with disabilities.  With Leicester MusicFest I have organised large-scale community singing projects, including Dido & Aeneas (2018), Carmina Burana (2020), and Ahoy! (2023), creating opportunities for school and university students, adult amateurs and professional musicians.   

I feel that grassroots music-making must be a priority in the current cultural climate.  In 2023 I will be conducting Jarrom Street Easter Choir, a new singing project which aims to enable local people to start choral singing from scratch, by strategic use of a core group of supporting professionals.  I am committed to building networks with other music educators locally, and was delighted to coach my Eastwood Ensemble of young instrumentalists for a recent performance of chamber music at Leicestershire Music Hub’s String Discovery Day.  Other outreach work includes co-directing an organ scholarship scheme at St Anne’s in Western Park, and an Organ & Harpsichord Inspiration Day for local schoolchildren, in partnership with Thomas Aquinas Trust, to work towards forming an organ hub for Leicestershire. 

In recent years my work has become increasingly community-focused.  As Chairman and Trustee of Leicester MusicFest I have wide-reaching administrative responsibilities, organising an annual festival of concerts, competitions and educational events, as well as wider outreach projects for local young musicians and schools.  These include the construction of an innovative outdoor Forest Gamelan music classroom, a popular instrument re-homing scheme, and current plans to form an all-access youth jazz band for Leicestershire. 

I was musical consultant on the University of Leicester/Philharmonia Orchestra scholarship scheme, and am a regular adjudicator for Rotary Young Musician competitions.  I have organised and fundraised for aspirational school trips to the University of Oxford, including musical collaborations with student musicians and choristers at Oxford colleges and at Christ Church Cathedral.  I am experienced at organising choir tours, having been involved in planning many successful UK and European trips.  I also enjoy composing, and some of my original work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. 

Click here for some links to my musical background.

contact John via telephone on 07813 918769

or email to johngull.uk@gmail.com

Click here to see a map of my location in Leicester.

I am Enhanced DBS-checked for working with children and vulnerable adults.  DBS documentation is available for inspection on request.