Andrew Nethsingha

His early musical training was at Exeter Cathedral School as a chorister of the cathedral, where his father, the late Lucian Nethsingha, was Organist for over quarter of a century. He was a music scholar at Clifton College in Bristol where he studied with Gwilym Isaacs before gaining his organ scholarship to St John's Cambridge.[1] He later studied at the Royal College of Music, where he won seven prizes, and at St John's College, Cambridge. He has held Organ Scholarships under Dr Christopher Robinson at St George's Chapel, Windsor and Dr George Guest, both of whom were Organist and Director of Music at St John's College. Having held the post of assistant organist at Wells Cathedral, in 1994 Nethsingha had eight years as Master of the Choristers and Organist at Truro Cathedral, becoming the youngest cathedral organist in the country. During this period the reputation of the choir increased considerably.[2] He succeeded David Briggs at Gloucester Cathedral in 2002 (whom he had also followed at Truro), and also held the artistic directorship of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival and the conductorship of Gloucester Choral Society.

As Director of Music at St John’s College, Andrew helped to set up the recording label, ‘St John’s Cambridge’, in conjunction with Signum Classics.[3] The first release on this label, DEO (music by Jonathan Harvey), was a 2017 BBC Music Magazine Award winner.[4] Six recent albums have been ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone Magazine. He initiated the annual Advent Commission series in 2008 with the support of an anonymous Johnian benefactor, with some of the most recent works composed by Helen Grime, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Judith Bingham.[5] In October 2021, Andrew led the move to admit female singers to the Choir, to start in 2022.[6]

As an orchestral conductor, Andrew has led the Philharmonia Orchestra in works that include: Mahler’s 8th Symphony, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Britten’s War Requiem, Brahms’ Requiem, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and The Kingdom, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Poulenc’s Gloria and Duruflé’s Requiem. He has also worked with: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Britten Sinfonia, Orchestra of St Luke’s (New York), Aarhus Symfoniorkester, and BBC Concert Orchestra. Venues have included the BBC Proms, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Verbier Festival, Tokyo Suntory Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and Singapore Esplanade.

His wife, Lucy Nethsingha, is a Liberal Democrat politician, who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2019 to 2020,[7] and is currently the Leader of Cambridge County Council.[8] They married in 1996 and have three children.[9]

• The Tree: a live album celebrating the heritage of the choir. The album plays with the idea of growth, inspired by the tree in the Book of Job. St John’s Cambridge label with Signum Records, November 2021
• Magnificat 2: a second album of settings of the Evening Canticles. St John’s Cambridge label with Signum Records, April 2021. Gramophone Editor’s Choice, June 2021[10]
• Advent Live - Volume 2: a second collection of live performances from Advent Carol Services at St John's College. St John’s Cambridge label with Signum Records, November 2020
• Pious Anthems and Voluntaries: a recording of the nine-part cycle by Michael Finnissy written whilst Composer in Residence at St John’s College. St John's Cambridge label with Signum Records, 2020. Gramophone Editor’s Choice, September 2020[11] & Gramophone Awards Finalist (Contemporary), 2021. BBC Music Magazine Choral and Song Choice, October 2020. The music was choral nominee at the 2020 Ivors Composer Awards
• Magnificat: an album dedicated to settings of the Evening Canticles. St John’s Cambridge label with Signum Records, 2019. Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Awards Issue 2019[12]
• Locus Iste, a collection that takes music from each decade of the 150 year history of the College Chapel. St John’s Cambridge label with Signum Records, 2019. Gramophone Editor’s Choice, July 2019[13]
• Advent Live - Volume 1: a selection of live performances from Advent Carol Services at St John's College. St John’s Cambridge label with Signum Records, October 2018
• Mass in G minor: the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Joseph Wicks (organ), David Blackadder (trumpet). St John's Cambridge label with Signum Records, 2018. BBC Music Magazine Choral and Song Choice, July 2018
• Kyrie: works by Francis Poulenc, Zoltán Kodály and Leoš Janáček. Joseph Wicks and Glen Dempsey (organ), Anne Denholm (harp). St John's Cambridge label with Signum Records, September 2017
• Christmas with St John's. Joseph Wicks (organ). St John's Cambridge label with Signum Records, October 2016
• Deo: music by Jonathan Harvey. Edward Picton-Turbervill (organ). St John's Cambridge label with Signum Records, May 2016. BBC Music Magazine Award Winner (Choral) 2017

• Director of Music
• Director of Music | StJohns