This Years Adjudicators

Robert Dean

Robert Dean has enjoyed a busy freelance schedule first as a singer in opera and concert, later as a conductor with opera companies in Europe and North America. His work with choirs has included Artistic Director of the world renowned Philharmonia Chorus for a period of 10 years collaborating with many world famous conductors on choral masterpieces. He is currently co-founder and Artistic Director of Oxford Orpheus as well as Professor of Singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he has worked with many young singers who are now treading the boards in Europe and the UK. He is also much in demand as a popular workshop clinician with both choirs and solo singers and has been invited on to sit on adjudication panels throughout the country.

William Pool ARCM

William Pool comes from Penzance, Cornwall. He was educated at St Erbyns School, Penzance, Blundells School, Tiverton, and at Birmingham University. He trained as an operatic tenor at The Royal Northern College of Music, and, finally at The National Opera Studio, in London.

His professional debut was in 1979, as Jacquino in Fidelio on The Glyndbourne Tour, and then work followed for The Royal Opera, as well as various opera/concert projects, and significant work with the famous Monteverdi Choir with touring worldwide. Venues in Europe and USA include The South Bank, London, La Scala Milan, The Chatelet Theatre, Paris, The Lincoln Centre, New York, and Palazzo Vecchio Florence, Italy. From 1985, William ‘crossed over’ to musicals and general theatre, performing in West End Shows (Chess, and Bernadette - original casts, and Les Miserables Royal Variety TV Performance) and in repertory theatre nationwide (Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Frederick in Pirates Of Penzance, King Henry in Man For All Seasons, Marcel in Piaf, Eldest Magician in Just So, Tony in West Side Story, Nika Magadoff in The Consul, Pantomime, and many other roles).

Since 1990, singing teaching has been a major part of his professional career, alongside his performing engagements. He has been a singing tutor at many London Musical Theatre Academies - including Mountview, Arts Ed, GSA, Central School, and Laine Theatre Arts. From 2003 to 2012, while living in Brighton, alongside his teaching work, he ran two very successful stage schools (Brighton Young Performers and The Theatre Workshop). Now he is very actively running the singing modules in the Chichester University Conservatoire ‘Triple Threat’ musical theatre degree course, from which many students have found success in The West End, and on prestigious cruise ships in Europe and USA.

William now, once again, lives permanently in Cornwall, having resettled in St Erth in 2022. But he still works at Chichester University Conservatoire. He is very happy to have returned to his family roots. Supporting the new generation of singers and actors is a very fulfilling role to be playing, and it is an honour to be asked to join the panel of The Chris Treglown Award for 2024.