Our Musicians

Every choir must have its musicians.  The person who leads us is our Musical Director, Hilary Osborn.  Hilary is a classically trained singer having trained with Dorothy Murphy formerly of the Royal Opera House and John Dethick formerly Principal Baritone of the English National Opera. She is a music graduate of the University of Sheffield. Her studies included vocal performance, Baroque performance practice, mediaeval song, traditional and popular music, opera and music drama. She also holds an MA in Community Music from the University of York.

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Hilary is very active in Community Music circles and has a passion for making performing and music opportunities available for everyone. She is an experienced choral conductor and has directed a number of community choirs over the years. She is also the founder and director of the Inyerface Arts Group (www.inyerfacearts.com) and The Valley Music Festival based in Stocksbridge.

 

We are fortunate enough to have two proficient musicians who act as deputies for Hilary, when necessary.  They are Claire MacCauley and Charlotte Proctor.  Charlotte is a proficient musician, with B.Mus (Hons) and holds qualified teacher status. She plays both cello and flute and is an accomplished soprano and performer.  She has many years experience teaching music in mainstream and SEND settings. She is a member of Barnsley Music Hub Board, representing SEND interests in music education. In her current role as manager of neuro diversity support at Lindholme Prison, she uses music and singing in particular, in therapeutic situations and has formed a choir called Inside Voices.  She has been playing with orchestras since aged 7, and with full-scale musical theatre production. She was MD for Bugsy Malone in the Crucible aged 17, and later wrote and directed Romeo and Juliet, the Steel City Edition in the Crucible Main House.

 

​We have two renowned pianists, Martin Thistleton and Claire MacCauley.  They both play piano, organ and other instruments, and they both sing beautifully, as well.  Martin is a bass and Claire an alto, but she can lend her voice where it is needed.

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Martin has enjoyed working for Sheffield Music Academy since its opening in 2006.  He also works at Sheffield High School, and is an organist (St Timothy’s Church, Sheffield), accompanist and viola player. He plays keyboards for Stannington Mixed Choir, InYerFace house band, and violin/viola for Ethryll.

 

Martin completed his Doctorate in Composition with Nottingham University in 2001. He has a written a guide to GCSE composition, published by Zigzag Education. He has also written pieces for Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, Trinity Guildhall, Melmoth Theatre Company, Sheffield Youth Orchestra, Barnsley Music Service, Sheffield University Strings, Ingrid Clement, Melanie Jones, and various choirs, including ours. In 2024, we commissioned him to compose a Christmas anthem, O Bounteous Grace, and The Valley Music Festival commissioned a celebration of music piece, titled An Octave Higher. For a fuller account of his extensive work, you can visit this website Martin Thiselton - Sheffield Music Academy

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Claire gained her BMus (Hons) at the University of Sheffield in 1990, and her PGCE (Secondary Music) at Sussex University. She has accompanied and led different choirs for 10 years and she also teaches piano.  She has been handbell ringing for 3 years, and is now leading the St. Mary’s Bolsterstone Handbell Ringers. She has been with Stannington Choir for around 8 years now, accompanying and singing.  Claire has been leading the alto section, but is now singing with the tenors. 

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