Nick Houghton – Conductor
Conductor and organist Nicholas Houghton is a full-time freelance player, accompanist and choral director, with his own 17th century style chamber organ (built for him by Goetze and Gwynn in 1985) and Bizzi harpsichord.
Having begun his musical career at the age of seven as a chorister at Coventry Cathedral, Nick studied organ with David Lepine, Robert Weddle and Nicolas Kynaston, and music at Bristol University. He went on to hold a variety of teaching roles in both the independent and state education sector including five years as Head of the East Sussex Academy of Music (ESAM) in Lewes.
Nick has been conducting choirs and running choral workshops for over forty years, including eight years with the Reading Haydn Choir and fifteen with the Downland Chorale in Surrey. He is currently Music Director of the Lewes Singers, the East Sussex Community Choir, the Brighton Singers and Brighton Orpheus Choir.
Since 2012 Nick has been the Director of Music and Organist at St Michael’s in Lewes, founding the Sunday Recitals series there a year later. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.
Howard Beach – Keyboards
Howard Beach’s uniquely wide-ranging style of keyboard playing has been developed through years of partnering fine musicians in many different fields of music, including as an accomplished and characterful vocal accompanist. Between 1988 and 2000 he played for many prizewinning singers in international competitions and concerts, including winners of the Kathleen Ferrier competition, the Richard Tauber prize and the NFMS award. During this time he also performed and recorded as a concerto soloist and continuo player with Les Arts Florissants, the Apollo Chamber Orchestra and the London Mozart Players, and was consultant and performer on Channel 4 TV opera and documentary projects.
For a decade from 2000-2010 Howard was the harpsichordist of the iconic baroque quartet Red Priest, recording four acclaimed CDs, touring the world and appearing on radio and TV. Since leaving Red Priest Howard has pursued an eclectic career, working as accompanist, repetiteur, teacher, massage therapist and, for some time, a ‘Senior Perfume Specialist’ in Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. He was also for several years a tenor soloist at the iconic St Bartholomew’s church in Brighton. His concert and recording activities have continued, in particular with his trio ‘Purcell’s Muse’, with ex-Red Priest violinist Julia Bishop and soprano Ana Maria Rincon. They have just recorded their first programme, of music by Handel, Bach and Purcell.
Howard is the accompanist for Resound, the New Sussex Singers and The Fletching Singers.
Robin Houghton – Administrator
Robin is the administrator for Choral Workshops and the point of contact for participants up to and on the day of an event.
With an MA in Digital Media from the University of Sussex, Robin ran her own online marketing consultancy for twenty years. As an internet ‘early adopter’ she created her first website in 1997 and went on to specialise in email marketing and commercial writing, including three books on blogging. In the last century she worked for Nike, organising fitness conventions and promotional events around the UK, and then in international product marketing for Adidas in Germany and the USA.
Robin has sung alto in many choirs over the years, most notably Brighton Festival Chorus in the 1980s. Since 2004 she has worked alongside her husband Nick in running the Lewes Singers, organising and promoting concerts, cathedral visits and in 2024 the choir’s first tour abroad to the Netherlands. The Houghtons have run the Choral Workshops series since 2017.
Robin’s ‘other life’ is in poetry; she is a widely-published and award-winning poet, co-host of the podcast Planet Poetry, and a trustee of the Poetry Society.
Photos of Nick and Robin Houghton by Sarah Weal.