Joseph Crouch
Joseph Crouch began his musical
education as a chorister at Westminster Abbey and was later a
choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge. These choirs gave him
exposure not only to ‘early’ vocal music, but also to period
instrument orchestras thanks to their many collaborative recordings
of Handel Oratorios and Bach Passion settings. The infectious
enthusiasm of the instrumentalists drew Joe not only to that
repertoire, but to a manner of performing that seemed a world away
from the strict discipline of the choir. That, and a reluctant
acceptance of his frankly significant vocal limitations, brought
Joe to postgraduate studies as a baroque cellist at The Royal
Academy of Music under Jennifer Ward Clarke.
Joe now combines positions as principal
cellist with The Academy of Ancient Music, The English Concert and
The Sixteen with a research fellowship at Southampton, funded by
the Arts and Humanities Research Council of Great Britain,
investigating the accompaniment of recitative in the classical
period and, particularly, the use of the cello as a chordal
instrument.
Joe is much in demand as a teacher and
this year, in addition to his work at the Royal Welsh College of
Music and Drama has given masterclasses and lessons at The Royal
Academy of Music, The Royal College and at Trinity College of
Music. He coaches at Dartington International Summer School and at
Aestas Musica, Croatia.