Ashley Grote
Ashley Grote is Assistant Director of Music at Gloucester Cathedral, where he plays the organ for Cathedral services and accompanies the Cathedral choir in their concerts, tours and broadcasts. He assists the Director of Music in the running of the Cathedral choir, and conducts the Cathedral’s flourishing Youth Choir who sing evensong weekly. He is also accompanist to Gloucester Choral Society and the Three Choirs Festival Chorus. Ashley is Conductor of the St Cecilia Singers, a Gloucester based chamber-choir who celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2009, and from September 2010 will be Conductor of the Ross-on-Wye Choral Society.
A former Organ scholar of King’s College, Cambridge, Ashley was Assistant Organist of Westminster Abbey before moving to Gloucester in April 2008. During his time at the Abbey, he took part in many prestigious events that included the service celebrating the Diamond Wedding of HM The Queen.
Born in 1982, Ashley was a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge and subsequently a music scholar at Uppingham School. After a year as Organ Scholar of St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, Ashley returned to Cambridge to study for a degree in music. As Organ Scholar at King’s, he performed worldwide with the famous Chapel Choir in numerous tours, concerts and broadcasts, including the annual ‘Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’. He was also Assistant Conductor for the Cambridge University Musical Society orchestras.
Described as a ‘sensitive and expressive’ performer (The Sunday Telegraph), Ashley has given recitals throughout the UK and Europe, with recent engagements including concerts in Germany, Finland and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as well as Durham, Salisbury, Truro, Hereford, Worcester and Westminster Cathedrals and Westminster Abbey. He was a prize winner at the Dublin International Organ Competition in 2005, a semi-finalist in the St Albans International Organ Competition in 2007, and held the prestigious W.T. Best scholarship from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Ashley first came to Edington as Organist in the summer of 2007, and is succeeding Julian Thomas as Director of the Festival in August 2010. He is married to Helen, who is expecting their first child.