Principal Performers

Rodney Gibson – Baritone

Born in Winchester, Rodney began his training at the Royal College of Music. He continued his studies in Italy with  Paolo Silveri and in London with Raimund Herincx. He made his debut at the Teatro Ghione, Rome and appeared in musical theatre throughout Italy and in opera in the uk. With The Royal Opera he has performed roles in Billy Budd, La Traviata and Un Ballo in Maschera. He was a finalist in the Richard Tauber competition. He is an experienced oratorio and concert artist and has performed most of the major oratorios throughout Britain.

Rodney has worked with The GraySingers since their early days and is a very popular performer.

Adrian Gray – Baritone & Master of Ceremonies

Adrian is the cement that keeps this eclectic group of performers together! A legend in his home town of Bushey, he entertains audiences both with his inimitable style of performing and his friendly and humorous interspersions for the group. He has given performances as master of ceremonies for over 10 years now and his comments are always much admired by audiences.

Julie Gray – Soprano

Julie studied Music and German at Oxford Brookes University and followed this with a PGCE and an ARCM diploma from the Royal College of Music. She studies singing and teaching methodology with the eminent vocal consultant Janice Chapman and has worked with coaches such as James Lockhart, David Drummond, Phillip Thomas and Linnhe Robertson. She is an experienced oratorio and concert artist and she performs regularly with a number of professional groups in Concerts of Opera, Operetta and Music Theatre. She is the artistic director of The GraySingers and has organised sell-out concerts for many music festivals and corporate events around the country, most recently for Knebworth House and has performed 9 years in a row at The Bushey Festival . She has performs major oratorios with choral societies around the country. Recent performances include Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Requiem and Coronation Mass (St Alban’s Abbey), Schubert’s Mass in G (York Minster), Orff’s Carmina Burana (Oxford), Mendelssohn’s Elijah (Norwich), Handel’s Messiah, Poulenc Gloria, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle (Harrow) (St. Paul’s Knightsbridge), and  numerous performances of  Verdi’s Requiem (Banbury, Potters Bar and Bushey).

Michelle Harris – Mezzo

Michelle initially began her musical studies at Middlesex University where she gained a BA performance Arts and PGCE. She then studied on the advanced vocal course at the Royal Academy of Music where she was awarded the SS Payne Prize, the Jennifer Vyvyan Scholarship and the Isobel Jay opera prize. Concerts include Bach’s Magnificat and Christmas oratorio (the latter recorded for broadcast by Classic FM), Vivaldi’s Gloria, Haydn Masses, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, the Mozart and Durufle and Verdi Requiems as well as the Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater at Westminster Abbey and the Rachmaninov Vespers at St Alban’s Abbey. As a soloist with orchestra she has performed Berlioz Nuits D’Ete and the Elgar Sea Pictures as well as the Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos. She has worked for Kent Opera, Garsington Opera and Bampton Classical Opera for whom she performed the roles of Prince Edward in Arne’s King Alfred and the title role in Paisiello’s Nina. She has worked in France at the opera National de Lyon under the batons of Marc Minkowski, Kent Nagano, Frans Bruggen and Louis Langree. Recently, Michelle worked in Rome where she sang the roles of Dorabella, Moglie Dell’Orco in Pollicino by Hans Werner Henze and Storge in Handel’s Jephtha. She also undertook the role of Sesto in Cavalli’s Pompeo Magno in Croatia under the musical direction of Paul Esswood, to critical acclaim.

Mark Rice Oxley - Actor & Baritone

Mark was chosen by Dame Judi Dench for the Patricia Rothermere Award (Evening Standard Awards) which allowed him to study acting for three years at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, having already done English & Drama at Birmingham University.  Whilst at University, Mark appeared in Cabaret, South Pacific, Jesus Christ Superstar, Into The Woods, Grand Hotel, and played Billy Flynn in Chicago, and Macheath in The Thr’peneny Opera. Since graduating from drama school, Mark has done almost every type of acting possible from Shakespeare to Sitcom, live Radio to Physical Theatre (with Frantic Assembly), corporate videos, audio books, soap opera (Eastenders) and over ten World or British Premieres of new plays both in the West End and around the country, such as Harold Pinter’s The Dwarfs at the Tricycle Theatre (also on BBC4), Cuckoos at The Barbican, David Copperfield at the West Yorkshire playhouse, The Danny Crowe Show at the Bush, Cressida (with Michael Gambon) at the Albery. Musically, Mark has sung in productions as diverse as the Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Entertainer at Liverpool Playhouse, impersonated Liza Minelli in The Kindness of Strangers at the Liverpool Everyman, and played George Harrison in a film about the Beatles.  In addition to guitar, Mark has also played trumpet, tenor horn, piano, ukelele and recorder on stage. Mark is often asked to do development work on plays and films and has been involved in new musicals Tin Pan Alley, and the Lord of the Rings Musical, in which he helped create the character of Gollum.  Mark was seen in the new series of Hotel Babylon, New Tricks and Landgirls on BBC1. Click here to see Mark's showreel http://www.takefivestudio.com/showreels/mark-rice-oxley