Proteus Ensemble & Stephen Shellard
Biography Proteus Ensemble & Stephen Shellard
The Proteus ensemble
was founded by Stephen Shellard in 2013 and consists of professional singers drawn from all parts of the UK. Named after the Greek sea–god Proteus, the group takes its musical raison d’etre from the adjective ‘protean’ which means ‘versatile’ or ‘capable of assuming many forms’.
The group’s first CD, on Regent Records, Serenity, Courage, Wisdom, was recorded in Worcester Cathedral and launched at their inaugural concert in Pershore Abbey as part of the 2014 Worcester Three Choirs Festival. It was met with unanimous praise in the musical press with MusicWeb describing it as ‘a disc…for profound literary and musical enjoyment’. The group’s second disc of music by the contemporary composer Paul Fisher is to be released by Regent Records later this year.
Stephen Shellard
comes from Dublin. He began his musical career as a chorister at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Ballsbridge, later moving to St. Patrick’s Cathedral where he became Head Chorister and Winstanley Scholar. His musical education continued at Trinity College, during which time he became the youngest ever Alto Lay Vicar Choral in the 800 year history of St. Patrick’s.
In 1990, Stephen moved to join Worcester Cathedral Choir as an Alto Lay Clerk, and latterly became the Senior Lay Clerk. In his 32 years at Worcester, he sang solo on Cathedral Choir recordings and in concerts with the Worcester Festival Choral Society. He also featured as a soloist in the annual Three Choirs Festival, including Britten’s Abraham and Isaac and Handel’s Messiah with Sir David Willcocks. Outside Cathedral duties, he sang with Musica Contexta, singing solo on their Palestrina recordings with Chandos Records and in their debut at the Wigmore Hall, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
In 1998, he founded the Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir. The foundation of the choir was historic in that, for the first time in its 900 year history, female voices became a part a Cathedral Choir in Worcester.
In 2023, while continuing his association with the Chamber Choir, Stephen left the Cathedral Choir to embark upon a Masters degree in choral conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, from which he has recently graduated with distinction. As well as founding the Proteus Ensemble in 2013, he was also appointed chorus master to the newly established Elgar Festival Chorus in 2019.
