Peter Stobart
Peter Stobart
Choral Conductor
Choral Conductor
Peter Stobart is the Director of Music of St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, Republic of Ireland, having taken up the post in October 2015.
He is also the Artistic Director of the Cork International Choral Festival, a position which he took up in January 2020.
Since arriving in Ireland Peter has established a strong link between the cathedral and schools in the diocese, with the aim of securing the future of sacred choral singing. He set up the Diocesan Church Music Scheme in Cork, Cloyne and Ross, The Cathedral Choir boasts 40 children in its top line, divided up into girls and boys.
The cathedral now holds an annual Schools Singing Workshop, at least two Come and Sing Events per year, and annual training days for parish organists and choral conductors. The cathedral organ was recorded by Priory Records in April 2017 and the CD is now available from their website.
The Cathedral Choir appeared on RTÉ television in October 2017, broadcasting a one hour service including a Bach Cantata, for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. They produced a CD of Christmas Carols in November 2017, toured Wales at Easter 2018 and Germany in 2019. Their most recent CD 'Let all the world' is now available from the cathedral website: corkcathedral.webs.com/apps/webstore
Originating from Yorkshire, Peter began his career working as the organ scholar of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and as the organ scholar at the College of St. Hild and St. Bede, University of Durham for three years. It was here that he read a degree in music and also directed the Durham University Chamber Choir. After graduating, he sang as a Lay Clerk in Peterborough Cathedral Choir.
Peter spent eight years forging his musical career in London. He studied choral conducting for two years at the Royal Academy of Music with Patrick Russill and Paul Brough. He was the winner of the Alan Kirby prize for choir training 2007/8 and the Thomas Armstrong Prize for Choral Conducting 2008/9 and took part in masterclasses with David Hill and the BBC Singers.
Whilst he lived in London he was the Head of Co-Curricular Music at St Dunstan’s College, Catford, he directed the Southampton University Chamber Choir, the Hogarth Singers, the A Cappella Singers of Weybridge, and the vocal chamber group Novem Altare. He was also Director of Music and Organist at Christ Church, East Sheen.
He is primarily a choral specialist and voice trainer who has led workshops and choral days with singers of all ages. He has run ‘Come and Sing’ events on Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem and has curated a series of Bach’s Cantatas and Passions and Handel’s Chandos Anthems. He has a particularly enthusiasm for Baroque music and uses period instrument ensembles regularly.
As a Tenor, Peter has recently sung solo roles in performances of Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St John Passion and Magnificat, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He has also been a regular deputy singer at Westminster Abbey.
In 2014 Peter became the Artistic Director for the Voices of Hangzhou Youth Choir based in a large city near Shanghai. He ran a summer school there during July and August 2014 for fifty children aged 8 to 16 and performed on Chinese National Day. He ran a similar course in August 2015, and the concert was broadcast on Chinese National Television as part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations for the end of World War II.
