Impromptu thesis procrastination sightreading John Clare's 'Ballad: A Weedling Wild, on Lonely Lea', from The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems (1821).

John Clare, 'Ballad: A Weedling Wild, on Lonely Lea' (The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems, 1821)

Sonata No. 1 For Piano, "Portraits Of A Ballet Of Two Puppets" mvt. 1

Over the wintry
forest, winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow.
- Natsume Soseki (1867-1916)

Haiku - "Over The Wintry Forest"

A short improvisation, recorded (using phone) in Exeter College Chapel, Oxford; 29 April 2017. Singing (Countertenor), to improvised words, and accompanying myself on the piano.

Improvisation: Countertenor and Piano. 29.04.17.

An improvised 'poem without words' for Baritone and Piano. Recorded 8 December 2019 in the Chapel of Exeter College, Oxford.

Improvisation: Poem without Words for Baritone and Piano, 08.10.2019

Singer, composer and director Esmond Cordingley-Poole is reading for a degree in History at The University of Oxford, where he holds a choral exhibition in the Choir of The Queen's College. Prior to coming to Oxford, he sung as a Choral Scholar at Guildford Cathedral, before focussing increasingly on solo singing, under the tuition of Penny Jenkins. Alongside his commitments with Queen’s, he currently sings with London-based chamber choir, the Iken Scholars, and Theatron Oneiron. As a soloist, Esmond has sung for performances of cantatas and oratorios by Schütz, Purcell, and Handel, as well as various solo recitals. Recent opera roles include Caronte and Spirito (Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo; Theatron Oneiron) and Shepherd, Huntsman and one of the three Graces (Blow’s Venus and Adonis; Benslow Baroque Opera).

Esmond is the artistic director of Theatron Oneiron, an early opera and early music production company founded by current and former students of the University of Oxford. In 2016, he produced and was the artistic director for Theatron Oneiron’s production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, having previously directed Cantanti di Monteverdi, a vocal quintet specialising in secular Italian Renaissance music. He has particular interests in opera and in early music and historically informed performance. He has received coaching in Baroque gesture and historical stagecraft from Dionysios Kyropoulos and Katerina Antonenko, and sung in early music masterclasses with Michael Fields, Steven Rickards, Robert Hammersley, and Nathan Medley.

Esmond is also a composer, whose work has been performed by artists including the BBC Singers. Recent works include settings of poems by Christina Rosetti; a dramatic scene, Orpheus in Hades; a setting of Natsume Sōseki’s haiku, Over the Wintry Forest; and a piano sonata, Portraits of a Ballet of two Puppets.

Esmond Cordingley-Poole

Popular tracks