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Meet the team!
Thomas Mottershead
Musical Director
Thomas Mottershead is an award-winning conductor, animateur, tenor and pianist based in South Wales.
Originally from Colchester, Essex, Thomas has a BMus (First Class with Honours) from Cardiff University, an MMus (Distinction) in Choral Conducting from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) and a PGCE in Secondary Music from the University of Cambridge.
Thomas has many years of experience conducting choirs and orchestras, starting at an early age. He has
worked and studied with many conductors including Simon Halsey, Neil Ferris, Alice Farnham, Paul Spicer, Edward-Rhys Harry, and Camilo Santostefano.
He has been fortunate himself to have been conducted by some of the most well-renowned conductors, such as Sakari Oramo, Xian Zhang, Tadaaki Otaka, Mark Wigglesworth and Sir Andrew Davis.
As well as Musical Director of Cheltenham Choral Society, Thomas is also Musical Director of The Malmesbury Singers in Malmesbury and The Athenaeum Singers in Warminster; an Animateur for Welsh National Opera; Director of Music and Organist at St. Mary's Priory Church in Monmouth; Artistic Director of the Prometheus Consort and Assistant Conductor of The Harry Ensemble (with whom, most recently, Thomas played organ and conducted on a tour to Italy in 2023, including in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City) . He is also the Co-Founder of Cardiff Opera and, in Summer 2021, conducted three sold-out performances of Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’.
Previous positions include Youth Opera Chorus Master of Welsh National Opera; Director of Music at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Whitchurch; Assistant Musical Director of Cardiff Bach Choir; Orchestra Manager and Assistant Musical Director of Serenata Singers and Cardiff University Operatic Society respectively; Chorus Manager and Assistant Chorus Master of the Cardiff University Symphony Chorus; and Musical Director Blank Verse and Musical Director of the Welsh Hospital Choir (South Glamorgan). In Spring 2017, the opportunity arose to study in America at the University of New Hampshire, which included an opera performance and an international premiere of his own compositions, conducted by Thomas himself.
As a singer, Thomas appeared on the 2022 series of ‘The Voice UK’ on ITV, singing as one half of 'Thomas and Emilie'. They had four chair turns and a block from Sir Tom Jones, with whom they eventually decided to have as their coach. Thomas regularly performs as part of the Llandaff Cathedral Choir, including for live and recorded broadcasts for the BBC. He has also been a Lay Clerk at St. Edmundsbury Cathedral and, whilst a student in Cardiff, held a bursary at the BBC National Chorus of Wales, performing at the BBC Proms on several occasions. Thomas has previously performed at the Royal Albert Hall, St David's Hall, Brangwyn Hall, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and King’s College Cambridge, as well as venues in Germany, Italy, America and Hong Kong and is also a frequent soloist for concerts. On the stage, he has performed the roles of Khashoggi in ‘We Will Rock You!’ and Anthony in Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd’, winning the Glamorgan Drama League award for “Best Performance in a Musical 2020”. Thomas works with a number of charitable organisations, including Music in Hospitals and Care, Lost Chord and Tenovus as a singer, pianist and conductor.
Thomas is a now member of APOLLO5, a critically acclaimed vocal ensemble based in London who tour all over the world. The group perform concerts all around the UK, throughout Europe and further afield including the USA.
Keep up to date with Thomas here: https://thomasmottershead.com/
Alison Howell
Organist, Pianist and CCS Accompanist
Alison Howell is based in Bristol and works as a freelance musician. She is the organist of St John the Baptist Church, Keynsham, and is the accompanist for Bristol Cabot Choir, Cheltenham Choral Society and the University of the West of England Singers. As a committee member of the Society of Women Organists Alison coordinates “Woman Composer Sunday”: an annual, international, event - held on the nearest Sunday to International Women’s Day - to promote organ and liturgical music by women composers.
Alison studied organ, piano and harpsichord at the Royal Academy of Music and took a London University degree. She was subsequently awarded scholarships by The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, The Tillett Trust and The Worshipful Company of Musicians to continue her studies in Amsterdam and London. At this time, she gained the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists and won the prestigious Coventry Cathedral Recital Award for outstanding performance of the pieces and a distinction in the LGSM piano diploma. Her MA research at Reading University was in ‘Variables in sight reading outcomes amongst piano students’.
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Dame Felicity Lott
1947-2026
It was with immense sadness and not a little pride that members of CCS learned of the news of Dame Felicity Lott’s death aged 79 from lung cancer on Friday 16th May
Known by all as “Flott,” she was a Cheltenham girl, who went on to have a stellar national and international musical career. But in addition, she served as the President of CCS for 30 years from1993 to 2023. She sang with us on 11 occasions from 1969, ending in 2018 with the 80th anniversary concert in Pittville Pump room, when she delighted us with some Mozart, Grainger, Hughes and Britten arias before we performed The Peacemakers by Carl Jenkins.
Many of us will have listened to her talking to John Wilson on BBC Radio 4’s programme “This Cultural Life” broadcast last week, but still of course available on BBC Sounds. I was struck by her beautiful speaking voice and the humour she retained even as she faced her death. Who can forget the beautifully humorous Cat’s Duet she sang at the Last Night of the Proms in 1996? This is still available on Youtube. Tributes and obituaries have been overwhelming, after her death was widely reported in the media. All the major newspapers published glowing articles and I was sent one written in French published in Le Figaro showing how her link with France, fostered during her undergraduate years, when she did a French degree, continued to be lifelong and how widely she was admired also in that country. Many of us in CCS will have had the opportunity to speak to, or correspond with her. She was also active in helping us choose her successor. We send our sincerest condolences to her whole family. We are linking some of the official tributes and obituaries for you to read below. We were privileged to have known her.
Sue Mildinhall
With thanks also to Tony White and Nikki Stephens
