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Caroline Slade (previously Challis) initially trained as a singer with teachers including Lynne Dawson and Cathy Pope, before being awarded the inaugural Sing for Pleasure Young Conductor Scholarship in 2013. Since then, she has trained in conducting through short courses and masterclasses with Sing for Pleasure, Association of British Choral Directors, the Royal Academy of Music, and most recently through the Royal Philharmonic Society Women Conductors Scheme. This season, Caroline was selected as one of 24 women to join the first Conducting for Opera short course at the National Opera Studio, receiving tuition from Sian Edwards, Jane Glover, Claire Gibault, Alice Farnham, Jessica Cottis, Natalie Murray-Beale, Mark Shanahan and Richard Hetherington.
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As a singer, Caroline has performed as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s St Paul, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, and Oliver Tarney’s Magnificat. She collaborated with composer Eve Harrison to premiere roles in Hera’s List (Terpsichore) for the Tête à Tête Festival and Opera Bingo (Sandra), which was shortlisted for the Opera Up Close Flourish competition. Caroline also performed at the 2015 BBC Proms in the chorus of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, with the Vienna Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle. She sings with the Vigala Singers, who were in recently in residence at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary, and with Sérafine Chamber Choir who recently recorded Tarney’s Magnificat for Convivium Records.
As a conductor, Caroline has worked with the English National Opera Community Chorus, the Opera North Youth Company and Children’s Chorus, and both Leeds and Bradford Cathedrals. She was appointed as Assistant Chorus Master at Opéra de Baugé for the 2014 season and won the Gil-Rodrigues Prize for her work with the company, and in the same year she became Musical Director of the Greater Manchester Police Male Voice Choir. She has also founded a number of ensembles including Marlow Gospel Choir and Bradford Friendship Choir, a group for refugees and asylum seekers. She is currently a conductor for the John Lewis Partnership Music Society, and her choir recently won second place in the society’s national PartnerSing competition. At the World Choir Games in 2014, she assisted the Bradford Catholic Girls Choir in winning three bronze medals. In 2018, Caroline appeared in Sandi Toksvig’s show Mirth Control at the Royal Festival Hall as a guest conductor of the Women of the World Orchestra. This season, Caroline will assist Eamonn Dougan for Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at the Chiltern Arts Festival.
Caroline is also an experienced workshop leader and animateur, and has devised and led projects for Opera North Education, The Voices Foundation, Artis Education, and Aldeburgh Music amongst others. She led a series of communication workshops for the NHS Management Academy in Leeds, and has lectured in Music at the University of Leeds and the University of Reading. Caroline also has extensive experience in company and artistic management, having held post as Artistic Manager of Young Opera Venture from 2014-15, and Assistant Artist Manager at Hazard Chase from 2016-17.
Outside of music, Caroline enjoys rowing and spends her spare time studying languages - with Swahili being the latest addition to her list. She can be seen in performance in the 2018/19 season at the Royal Festival Hall with the John Lewis Music Society, and at the London Coliseum conducting the ENO Community Chorus and Streetwise Opera.
As a conductor, Caroline has worked with the English National Opera Community Chorus, the Opera North Youth Company and Children’s Chorus, and both Leeds and Bradford Cathedrals. She was appointed as Assistant Chorus Master at Opéra de Baugé for the 2014 season and won the Gil-Rodrigues Prize for her work with the company, and in the same year she became Musical Director of the Greater Manchester Police Male Voice Choir. She has also founded a number of ensembles including Marlow Gospel Choir and Bradford Friendship Choir, a group for refugees and asylum seekers. She is currently a conductor for the John Lewis Partnership Music Society, and her choir recently won second place in the society’s national PartnerSing competition. At the World Choir Games in 2014, she assisted the Bradford Catholic Girls Choir in winning three bronze medals. In 2018, Caroline appeared in Sandi Toksvig’s show Mirth Control at the Royal Festival Hall as a guest conductor of the Women of the World Orchestra. This season, Caroline will assist Eamonn Dougan for Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at the Chiltern Arts Festival.
Caroline is also an experienced workshop leader and animateur, and has devised and led projects for Opera North Education, The Voices Foundation, Artis Education, and Aldeburgh Music amongst others. She led a series of communication workshops for the NHS Management Academy in Leeds, and has lectured in Music at the University of Leeds and the University of Reading. Caroline also has extensive experience in company and artistic management, having held post as Artistic Manager of Young Opera Venture from 2014-15, and Assistant Artist Manager at Hazard Chase from 2016-17.
Outside of music, Caroline enjoys rowing and spends her spare time studying languages - with Swahili being the latest addition to her list. She can be seen in performance in the 2018/19 season at the Royal Festival Hall with the John Lewis Music Society, and at the London Coliseum conducting the ENO Community Chorus and Streetwise Opera.
This biography was updated in October 2018. Please contact cjmc.slade@gmail.com for the most up to date version.
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