 Richard Llewellyn
Director of Music.
“Immensely impressive throughout”
“The very gifted Richard Llewellyn directed with admirable skill and understanding [Stabat Mater, Pergolesi]…”
“I for one would travel a long way to hear this magnificent ensemble again [The London Strings] under this young man’s direction.” Musical Opinion, London 2004
“A very talented musician” Sir Colin Davis
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Photo: Carpenter Turner - London
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Richard Llewellyn learnt piano aged three and conducted his first orchestra and choir aged fourteen. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, where he graduated with several prizes and awards. He worked closely with such conductors as Sir Colin DAVIS, Sir Charles MACKERRAS, Lord MENUHIN, Christoph ESCHENBACH, Peter EOTVOS.
Getting London critical acclaim, the music director of The London Strings appears regularly on the London scene along with the most celebrated young musicians of the day. His busy guest conducting also includes concerts with the Sofia Philharmonic and operas on major Eastern European scenes.
A church musician, he conducts various London professional choirs, and has worked with Patrick RUSSILL and James O’DONELL, respectively directors of music of the London Oratory and of Westminster Abbey. On top of being music director of St. Peter’s choir, with whom he performs regularly at St. Bede’s Church in London during mass, Richard Llewellyn has also worked extensively in France: he has assisted Saint-Eugène’s Master of Music Jean –Philippe SISUNG, and has also served the Canons Regular of the Mother of God and the Fraternity of Saint-Peter as choir master for some ceremonies.
Philippe Reverchon
 Pianist – Coach for the Choirs.
Philippe Reverchon has been a principal coach for the Choirs of the Opéra National de Paris for more than ten years. He has worked for the greatest living conductors, such as Carlo Maria GIULINI, Daniel BARENBOIM, Sir Georg SOLTI, Myung-Whung CHUNG, George PRETRE, Jeffrey TATE.
He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and graduated in piano and piano accompaniment under Gabriel TACCHINO and Jean KOERNER. It is his meeting with Serge ZAPOLSKY (conductor of the Choir of the French Army during his military service) that led to a carrier in opera, which he had already started as a pianist for the Orchestre de Paris with choir conductor Arthur OLDHAM.
An accomplished pianist, he takes part in several productions and concerts for international festivals, such as the Festival of Salzburg, the Festival of Saint-Céré in France, the Festival of Castiglion Fiorentino in Toscany, and also the Festival “Musiche in Mostra” of Torino, where he gave a recital of French melodies with tenor Damien TOP. He also plays regularly as a duet with flautist Rémi PUISSEGUR.
He has had the opportunity to commit himself into sacred music in the classical roman rite in Paris, first as assistant Master of Music at Saint-Eugène from 1995 to 1998. He was then in charge of the services of preparation for the Charles Pentecost Pilgrimage (Notre-Dame de Chrétienté) in Paris. He is now the Director of Music of the Choir of the Chartres Pilgrimage.
John McGreal
 Organist, London Oratory.
John McGreal read music as an organ scholar at Peterhouse, Cambridge, studying organ with David Rowland and Peter Hurford. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music in organ with Nicholas Danby and harpsichord with Ruth Dyson, winning the Harold Darke Prize for the performance of the organ music of J.S. Bach and prizes on harpsichord and clavichord. Further study continued with Dame Gillian Weir and Gustav Leonhardt.
John spent a year in Lübeck in Northern Germany, researching the North German Baroque repertoire while discovering the rich organ landscape. He has played a leading role in London's Catholic church music, as succesively, Director of Music at the Holy Redeemer, Cheyne Row and Organist at St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, where he performed on Aid to the Church in Need's Catholic Collection CD, for whom he has subsequently recorded with the London Oratory Choir.
In 1999 he was appointed Organist at the London Oratory, where he has maintained and developed the Catholic tradition of the organ as both a solo and accompanimental voice in the liturgy. He is director of the annual October organ recital series and a co-founder of Oratory Baroque, a new April festival featuring harpsichord, solo and chamber repertoire in the Little Oratory.
His performance of Bach on the Oratory organ as part of a CD to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Organ Club was praised in Organists' Review for its "great power, compelling utter absorption from the listener."
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