Musical Director - Bernard Sutton

Bernard Sutton studied Music at Manchester University and Cambridge. Whilst at Manchester he studied singing with Nicholas Powell and was in a madrigal group run by the countertenor Owen Wynne, as well as captaining the University Cricket team! At Cambridge, Bernard sang in the St Catharine’s chapel choir and then he was appointed Director of Music at Bablake School, Coventry.

Bernard has been actively involved in orchestral playing, he was the principal clarinet in the Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra (wso.org.uk) for over 20 years and principal clarinet and Chairman of the Leamington Chamber Orchestra. Bernard has conducted the Manchester Symphony Orchestra (www.manchestersymphonyorchestra.com) and Warwick University Wind Band (windorchestra.co.uk) and sung the Baritone solos in the Fauré Requiem and Stainer’s Crucifixion.

Bernard recounts the time when he found out we were recruiting...

"I got to know of Diatonic in 1999 when at Bablake School I received a flyer advertising for a Musical Director. I wrote off expressing my interest and much to my delight I was accepted. This gave me a chance to conduct and perform challenging music of all types in an atmosphere of friends and colleagues. Our repertoire is diverse from 16th Century madrigals and church music to Victorian part-songs and full scale choral works such as Poulenc’s Gloria, Handel’s Nelson Mass, Fauré’s Requiem and many others.

I particularly enjoy moulding a performance and involving the audience in the emotion of the music. I also feel that rehearsals should be fun, discovering what the music has to offer."

In his spare time Bernard enjoys mowing the lawn, chopping wood, watching cricket and assisting his wife with her hockey teams.