Here you can meet some of our members.

A woman taking a selfie in a room with lamp shades in the background.

Imogen Hayward
Soprano

I come from a very musical family and grew up surrounded by music both at home and at school.  Early experiences included our 4 part family singing group performing in local festivals and involvement in opera at school in association with the Royal Opera House.  Despite choosing a career in Medicine I have always retained my love of singing especially within a choir.  When I heard the Borders Chamber Choir was being set up, I jumped at the chance to audition for a choir led by Robert Marshall, having sung in the ERCU under his instruction in 2003.  It is such a refreshing, friendly choir to be part of and we are a very tight knit group who really enjoy not just what we do, but the process of getting there!

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Roy Ledsham
Tenor

I began singing in a tiny village church choir in Cambridgeshire and have pretty much sung with choirs ever since. We had a good choir master in that first choir and I am grateful to him, and to every subsequent musical director, for their energy and encouragement, which have contributed to my motivation to sing. That includes Robert, Musical Director for Borders Chamber Choir, who sets an ambitious programme and pace. 

We have had some great musical experiences as a Choir and I love that feeling when a performance has gone well. It feels such a shared pleasure as well as an individual achievement.

Smiling elderly woman with glasses outdoors in front of green fields, trees, and a historic stone building in a rural area.

Catherine Hadshar
Soprano

My early singing peaked in the school madrigal group and as Little Buttercup in Pirates of Penzance! But things got more serious at University with my first chance to sing in Messiah and Bach’s Passions at St Mary’s in Edinburgh. In the Borders, Colin Fox and Abbey Consort gave me amazing opportunities to sing solos in Bach and Handel oratorios, inspiring me to organise further concerts at Paxton House. Robert Dick has generously facilitated and conducted several St Giles at 6 concerts including many favourite arias. I’ve enjoyed super solo opportunities with the late Marion Dodd, Berwick Arts Choir and Geoffrey Emerson’s inimitable Yetholm Sinfonia, while continuing to learn with teacher Irene Drummond and at Summer Schools led by Malcolm Martineau.

Borders Chamber Choir has a lot of fun and laughs — more at rehearsals than any choir I’ve been in before! Behind the chortling we are expected to get all the right notes in the right order while creating a special distinctive sound, so plenty of challenge and some exciting repertoire.