Sam Madden – tenor
Will Sims – piano

The Programme

Sam Madden – tenor
Will Sims – piano

from A Garland for de la Mare
i. Wanderers
ii. The Lady Caroline
vi. The Song of the Secret
xi. The Old House
xii. King David

from Till Earth Outwears
i. Let me enjoy the earth
ii. In years defaced
iii. The Market-Girl
iv. I look into my glass
v. It never looks like summer
vi. At a Lunar Eclipse

The Artists

Sam Madden is an international tenor from Dunedin, New Zealand, currently based in the United Kingdom singing as a Lay Clerk at Ely Cathedral alongside performing as a freelance soloist and ensemble tenor. Sam is an in-demand oratorio soloist having performed with some of the UK’s finest orchestras, including the Britten Sinfonia, the Philharmonia and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. His recent projects have included the Evangelist role and the tenor solos for Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Messiah and the premiere recording of Andrew Downes’ Song of the Prairies.

Sam has been a part of several recital series including a recurring recital at the Edinburgh Sacred Arts Festival and the Cambridge Festival. Sam has performed with and is a member of distinguished ensembles including St Martin’s Voices, Tenebrae, Chamber Choir Ireland, St Paul’s Cathedral Choir and is joining the Monteverdi Choir on their Apprentices Programme for 2025/2026.

Will Sims has been the Director of Chapel Music at Robinson College, Cambridge since 2022, where he directs the Chapel Choir for their twice-weekly services and busy concert, tour, commissioning and recording schedule, and supervises undergraduates in the Faculty of Music. Prior to this, he was the Director of Music at University College, Durham. He is a prize-winning Choral Director of the Royal College of Organists.

Will is an experienced singer and has sung in the Cathedral Choirs of Ely, Edinburgh, Lincoln and Peterborough; he is an accomplished collaborative pianist and regularly gives recitals of English Song, including in the Edinburgh and Cambridge Festivals; and his compositions have been performed in Cathedrals around Europe and premiered in The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. Will has performed across the UK, Europe and the US, and recorded with BBC Television and Radio, Delphian, Priory, Prima Facie, Apple TV and Capinski Records.