Home
Biography
Alastair Chilvers is a freelance musician and arts education specialist who is passionate about commissioning and conducting new works for young people. He attended Junior Trinity College of Music, before reading Music at Queens’ College, Cambridge and training as a pianist and vocal coach at the Royal Academy of Music. He was then appointed for two consecutive years as the Lucille Graham Opera Fellow at RAM. He now works for various arts charities, organisations and businesses.
Alastair’s playing career has seen him specialise as a collaborative pianist, working predominantly with singers. He has worked with multiple opera houses and performed in the top venues in London, including Cadogan Hall and Wigmore Hall. He has accompanied masterclasses with international vocalists and has performed globally. He is a Samling Artist and he was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2023.
Alastair is a passionate educator who seeks to enable all his students to reach their full potential. He believes music plays a central role in forming individual personality and expression. He is a Visiting Music Teacher at King’s College School, Cambridge, accompanies the annual entrance auditions for singers at the Royal Academy of Music and is an Examiner for ABRSM. From his music studio, Alastair coaches musicians in preparation for upcoming performances, exams and auditions. Please get in touch to discuss rates and availability.
Top cover photo – Robert Workman
Bottom cover photo – Jamie Wright
London Youth Opera
As Music Director of London Youth Opera since 2018, Alastair has rehearsed and conducted seven shows for the charity and regularly runs workshops in London schools as part of their wider outreach programme. LYO is a unique charity founded in 1971 under the previous name ‘W11 Opera’ that commissions a new 60-minute opera for performance by young people every year. It attracts participants from all across London and runs a generous bursary scheme allowing singers from all backgrounds to take part. Alastair sits on the Commission Team which regularly reviews pitches from composer and librettist duos. Like all arts charities, LYO is always looking for individuals and businesses that share our vision of providing high-quality arts opportunities to students from all backgrounds. If this sounds like you, please reach out using the form below.
LYO has an immense back-catalogue of over 40 operas written for performance by children with professional musicians, some of our more recent shows are listed below:
- 2018 Shadowtracks – Christina Jones (Librettist)/Julian Grant (Composer)
- 2019 Ever Young – Helen Eastman (Librettist)/Russell Hepplewhite (Composer)
- 2020 Jukebox – various
- 2021 It’s Your Move – Susan Moore & Tim Yealland (Story & Libretto)/Russell Hepplewhite (Composer)
- 2023 Pandora’s Box – Donald Sturrock (Librettist)/Stuart Hancock (Composer)
- 2024 The Quest – Megg Nicol (Librettist)/Nathan Williamson (Composer)
- 2025 The Little Zombie Girl – Ed Harris (Librettist)/Omar Shahryar (Composer)
2026 upcoming TAY – Gareth Mattey (Librettist)/Marco Galvani (Composer)
In the far off and ancient past of 2016, humanity is divided – the public Forum, now online, is falling apart at the seams.
Friends have turned against friends, faceless accounts and nameless profiles grow and spread, and the trolls feel more empowered than ever.
But what if there was a way to reconnect us all? Not with more human messiness, but with something new... perhaps an ‘artificial’ intelligence...
TAY is a comic but cautionary tale about the relationship between artificial intelligence and human beings. Inspired by the true story of ‘Tay’ (a Twitter-based chatbot) and those who interacted with her, this digital opera shows what people connecting with AI, never mind attempting to reconnect with other people, can teach us what it really means to be human in the 21st Century.
Alex-Brenner__12_1002-dx_s.JPG)
Alex-Brenner__12_8533-dx_s.JPG)
Contact
If you would like to get in touch with Alastair, please email or use the form below.
© Alastair Chilvers