The New Chamber Singers

The New Chamber Singers is an international choir based in Rome, Italy. It was founded in January 1993 and has developed a vast repertory that stretches from the early Renaissance to living composers. One of its objectives is to propose compositions and composers little known to an Italian audience, without ignoring the more well-known chamber choir pieces.

Thanks to its objective of welcoming international singers with a range of languages and cultures, it has been able to build its own well-defined and recognizable sound and style. It is based at the Anglican church of All Saints in Rome, but has also participated in a variety of concerts and musical events elsewhere in Rome, in Lazio and in other Italian regions. It has collaborated with several prestigious conductors and orchestras (Andrea Cappelleri, Wijnand van de Pol, Tom Hammond-Davies, Fabio Maestri, Gabriele Catalucci, the John Cabot University Orchestra, the Nova Amadeus orchestra and others). It has also recorded two CDs, one under the direction of Keith Griggs and dedicated to French music of the 20th century and one with Maestro Cappelleri, performing Gioachino Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle”.

The current choir master is Stefano Vasselli, and the choir is run by a committee consisting of Chris Phillips (president), Roberto di Mattei, (vice president) and Luisa Boccia, (treasurer).

Stefano Vasselli, Conductor

Born in Rome in 1969, he completed his musical studies at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, graduating in four main disciplines: Organ and Organ Composition, Principal Composition, Piano and Choir Conducting. During his formative years he also attended Gregorian Chant courses at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and numerous Masterclasses with distinguished organists such as Daniel Roth, Marie-Claire Alain, Michael Radulescu, Martin Sander, Victor Urban and others. As a private student he studied in particular the French Romantic repertoire under the guidance of Suzanne Chaisemartin in Paris. First Prize Winner at the T.I.M. (International Music Tournament), he has performed for the most prestigious Roman musical institutions, including the Academy of Santa Cecilia, the Roman Philharmonic Academy, the Gonfalone, the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and the Municipality of Rome itself.

He has performed concerts in many European countries, as well as the United States, Mexico, Israel, Argentina and Saudi Arabia. As an orchestral soloist he has played concerts by Händel, Rheinberger, Poulenc, and in November 2022 performed his first concert of music by Marco Enrico Bossi. For several years he has divided his life between Italy and Denmark, where his family resides: he has given concerts in various Danish cities and has collaborated in particular with the symphony orchestra of the city of Odense as an organist and harpsichordist. In this capacity he has participated in numerous productions (the “Messiah” by G.F. Händel, the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach, Mozart’s and Brahms’ Requiems, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and many others), playing with prestigious soloists such as Dmitri Sitkovetsky and Michala Petri, and under the direction, among others, of Christoph Eschenbach, Alexander Vedernikov, Stephen Layton, Nicholas Cleobury and Fabrice Bollon.

Since 1999 he has been organist and musical director at the episcopal church of St Paul’s Within the Walls in Rome. Always passionate about French music, he presented all of the symphonies for organ by Charles Marie Widor, and all of the organ compositions by César Franck and Maurice Duruflé. In 2022, together with the New Chamber Singers, he created a cycle of 4 concerts in homage to Franck with all his organ works and a selection of the most significant choral compositions.

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Chris Phillips, President

Born In London in 1952, Chris was educated in London and explored various career options before settling for what is nowadays called IT – Information Technology. He came to Rome at the end of 1991 on a short contract with IBM, but stayed and found a new opening in the marketing and distribution of satellite imagery with Eurimage, now part of Telespazio. In 2012 he merged satellites with IT and started working as a Business Analyst for SES, now the world’s largest communications satellite operator (think Astra). Initially working on-site in Luxembourg, he is now almost full-time home-working.

Chris has always been fortunate with his singing opportunities. His Welsh headmaster at The Latymer School, in north London, was a music lover, and through his interest in the Music Department, Chris had the incredible opportunity to sing as a boy treble in Boris Godunov at Covent Garden, and then, as a tenor, to sing in the school’s chamber choir at several Eisteddfodau, singing often in Welsh in competition against adult choirs.

At IBM in Rome, by chance he worked alongside an American who sang with the Accademia Filarmonica Romana. Chris joined and soon found himself also in the Cappella Giulia at St. Peter’s, both choirs being under Don Pablo Colino. He found himself singing on television and radio and on important occasions in the Vatican, Rome, Spain and USA. Probably his most spectacular moment was singing a completely unplanned solo at the beatification of Jose Maria Escriva in 1993, with a TV audience of millions!

By chance he heard the New Chamber Singers sing its first concert in 1993 and joined them immediately afterwards. He became president in 2023, after the epochal 25-year presidency of Andrew Cochlin came to an end.

He says “I know I can’t compete with Andrew’s musicality, but I hope to bring the benefits of my IT background and many years of project management to the job of administering the choir.”