Musicians-in-Residence
Your Musicians-in-Residence are Dr Shelley Katz and Dr Diana Gilchrist. They are Canadian musicians who have been based in Europe since the late 1980's, and they joined Bader College in 1997. Shelley and Diana have a weekly presence at the Castle during term time, and they offer a variety of extra-curricular musical activities and events including choir, concerts, lectures, lecture-recitals, workshops, and master-classes.
Shelley is engaged in music technology research and development, while Diana's research focuses on voice, opera and musical expression. Diana also teaches MUTH111 and MUTH232.
Our Ballroom is the largest internal space at the Castle. It is a grand room, offering views over the Courtyard to one side and our Elizabethan Gardens to the other. The Ballroom serves as a wonderful performance space and boasts a Steinway piano. We take advantage of the Ballroom’s excellent acoustics and use the space for Choir rehearsals and musical performances.
We offer a host of musical opportunities at Bader College, including:
- Open Choir, Chamber Choir and other vocal ensembles.
- Offsite performances in a variety of locations, including Vimy Ridge, Cambridge and Oxford.
- Student performances at the castle and in other UK venues.
- Trips to opera, ballet and other classical performances in London, Glyndebourne and at local venues.
- Opportunities to make music with members of the local community.
- Bookable music practice rooms at Bader Hall.
- An electronic drum set in the Castle (Dovecote)
- End of Term variety performances.
- Orchestral and instrumental ensembles (Bader College does not have any orchestral instruments, so students wanting to play in ensembles are asked to bring their own instruments, or to rent instruments locally while they are here).
- Master-classes for students who already play an instrument, or sing.
- Music theatre and drama workshops.
- Lecture-recitals.
- Opportunities to be involved with and/or perform with cutting edge music technology.
- Guitars: Student Services has various guitars that are available on loan.
Meet the Castle's Musicians-in-Residence
Shelley Katz
Shelley is a pianist and conductor with Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Julliard in New York. While based in New York, Shelley Katz performed as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist and was the pianist for the New York Contemporary Ensemble under Skrowaczewskii. He also worked under eminent conductors including Bernstein, Ozawa and Solti. Shelley started his conducting career in German opera houses and he performs around the world. He is also a music technologist and researcher, with a PhD from the University of Surrey, and he holds several patents. He is the Musical and Technical Director of the Symphonova Project and a former visiting fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.
Diana Gilchrist
Diana is an opera singer who founded Ottawa's Opera Lyra and was its Artistic Director until moving to Europe to pursue a singing career. Her Mozart roles include: Susannah (Le Nozze de Figaro), Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and the Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) which she has sung in Vienna, Paris and Berlin. Other leading roles include Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Gilda (Rigoletto) and the title roles in The Merry Widow and The Cunning Vixen. She has performed and broadcast in Europe, Asia and North America and currently combines her vocal work with research and teaching at Bader College.