Image of Organist playing the organ
Credit: Patricia Boulhosa

Choir staff and Organ Scholars

Director of Music - Benjamin Sheen

Benjamin Sheen was appointed Director of Music at Jesus College Cambridge in 2023. Prior to moving to Cambridge, he was Sub-Organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and organ tutor at the University of Oxford. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford and the Juilliard School in New York and spent eight years as the Associate Organist of the famed Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue in New York City. As a concert organist, he has gained international recognition on both sides of the Atlantic and further afield in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Read Benjamin's full biography.

Tel: +44 (0)1223 339474
Email: director-of-music@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Chapel and Choir Office Coordinator – Eleanor Lancelot

You can contact the Chapel and Choir Office Coordinator about concerts and the choirs.

Tel: +44 (0)1223 339699
Email: choir@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Organ Scholar – Drew Sellis

Drew is in his third year reading for a Music Tripos. He studies organ repertoire with Ann Elise Smoot and improvisation with David Briggs. His responsibilities include the accompanying of and rehearsal for the Chapel’s five sung services per week and assistance with the training of the choristers and probationers. He is also Harry Gabb Scholar and prize-winning Associate of the Royal College of Organists, achieving the highest overall mark in the country for his cohort. A busy schedule of organ recitals has taken Drew all over the country, from various Cambridge and Oxford Chapels to Liverpool Cathedral.  

Drew has a range of musical interests, having taken part in a diverse portfolio of projects during his time at Cambridge. He has been on musical direction teams in musicals and operettas from Cambridge-based venues such as the ADC Theatre and West Road Concert Hall to the Edinburgh and Camden Fringe Festivals, and is in frequent demand as a repetiteur, saxophonist, and jazz pianist for rehearsals and gigs across the city.  

From September 2023, Drew leaves his post as Senior Organ Scholar at Jesus for St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, where he will accompany the world-famous choir and assist with the training of the choristers and probationers.   

Email: choir@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Organ Scholar – Michael D'Avanzo

Michael was a chorister at Hereford Cathedral until 2015, when he took up the organ, studying with Geraint Bowen. In 2020, he was appointed Organ Scholar at St Davids Cathedral, singing for several BBC Radio broadcasts as well as regularly accompanying the choirs. He then moved to Southwell Minster as Organ Scholar, where he was involved in the Minster’s education and music outreach programmes as well as working closely with the choristers. In Southwell, he also performed alongside the Musical and Amicable Society for the Minster Chorale’s annual Messiah concert.

Michael’s solo performances have included recitals in cathedrals and churches across the country as well as a performance of Handel’s 13th Organ Concerto alongside Music for a While.

Michael is now in his first year at Cambridge, reading for a degree in Music.

Email: choir@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Former Directors of Music

Former Organ Scholars

1998 Timothy Byram-Wigfield
2003 Daniel Hyde
2009 Mark Williams
2017 Richard Pinel

1919 Adrian Edgar Lucius Burr
1924 John Gerald Hall
1929 Joseph Weston Poole
1929 Thomas Quibell
1932 Vernon Harcourt Rhodes
1938 Hilary Clifton Kelynack
1946 James Donald Cox
1946 Eric William Copperwheat
1948 Peter Hurford
1952 Richard Lloyd
1954 Peter Gay Fletcher
1957 John Rosser Turner
1960 Michael Burnett
1963 David Sheeran Butterworth
1967 Robert Ernest Walker
1968 Michael Baker
1968 Terence Albright
1971 Julian Couzens
1972 Malcolm Archer
1975 James Robert Sydney Wrightson
1977 Henry Roderick Shaw
1978 Paul M. Ellison (Assistant Organist)
1979 James A. O’Donnell
1981 Stephen P.A. Young
1982 Geraint Bowen
1984 Christopher Argent

1985 David Swinson
1987 Andrew David King
1989 Timothy Horton
1990 Daniel Phillips
1992 Charles Harrison
1993 Duncan Aspden
1995 Gregory Morris
1996 Julian Thomas
1998 Thomas Corns
1999 Anthony Smith
2001 Samuel Gladstone
2002 James Kennerley
2004 David Humphreys
2005 Samuel Hanson
2008 Thomas Chatterton
(Assistant Organist)
2008 Timothy Lambourn
2010 Robert George Dixon
2011 Benjamin Morris
2013 Bertie Baigent
2015 Jordan Wong
2016 Dewi Rees
2018 Jason Richards
2020 Luke Fitzgerald (Assistant Organist)
2020 Drew Sellis
2020 Christopher Too

Hear from Choir members