Leslie Olive
Leslie Olive
Leslie Olive, Music
Director of Stowmarket Chorale, is a choir trainer, conductor, composer, arranger, educator, and writer on music, as well as a powerful advocate for music and a maker-of-things-to-happen. He is a member of the music staff at Colchester Royal Grammar School. Born in Wales, he grew up in Surrey, studying music at Reigate Grammar School and then Reading University. As a young teacher he founded and directed one of Kent’s most successful youth choirs and was offered numerous conducting opportunities. Director of Music at Reigate parish Church from 1980, he was later invited by the BBC to become the first music director of Radio 4’s new-style Daily Service, where he directed numerous broadcasts and was for four years a Music Director for BBC Radio’s Worship Department.
At his heart is a passionate desire to share music with the whole world. For over twenty-five years he has pursued that vision, through the English Arts Chorale and Reigate Summer Music, and also by work with children and senior citizens and pioneering the INROAD choral courses for beginners. He has conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, The London Mozart Players, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as opera with the London Opera Players and Opera Brava.