Choral Course 1: Royal Holloway, University of London
Saturday 26th July - Friday 1st August 2025
Director: Katherine Dienes-Williams
Katherine Dienes-Williams, MA, BMus, FRCO, LTCL, Hon. FRSCM, Hon. FGCM was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Guildford Cathedral in January 2008 following six years as Director of Music at the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick. In May 2022 she was appointed the first ever female President of the Cathedral Organists’ Association.
Katherine was born and educated in Wellington, New Zealand and studied for a BA in Modern Languages and a BMus at Victoria University, Wellington. Katherine was Organ Scholar at Wellington Cathedral from 1988 to 1991 when she was appointed Assistant Organist there.
Katherine came to England in 1991 to take up the post of Organ Scholar at Winchester Cathedral and Assistant Organist at Winchester College. She has also held posts as Organist and Assistant Director of Music at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool, Assistant Organist and Director of the Cathedral Girls’ Choir at Norwich Cathedral prior to moving to Warwick as Director of Music at the Collegiate Church of St. Mary.
She is Chair elect of the Royal College of Organists and a trustee of both the Organists Charitable trust and YOST (Young Organ Scholars Trust) and is regularly asked to be a guest choral workshop leader for the Royal School of Church Music in the UK, South Africa, the USA, Canada, and Australia. Katherine is also a Patron of the Society of Women Organists. She has given several organ recitals in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, U.S.A., Bermuda, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, Spain, and Singapore. She has performed as organ soloist with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, the City of London Sinfonia, Southern Pro Musica, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also active as a composer, having received several commissions both in the UK, the USA, and New Zealand.
Katherine holds a Master of Arts in Music and Liturgy from Leeds University. She features both as organist and choral conductor on several recordings. She is in demand as a choral workshop leader in the UK, the USA, and several other European countries. In both summer 2019 and 2022 she directed the St. Thomas’ girl choristers’ course in New York. She co-directed a Rodolfus Foundation junior choral course in summer 2023.
Other interests include languages (her BA is in French and German), travel, reading and fitness. She is a Knight of the Grand Order of Vitéz and a Knight of the Order of St. Ladislau (Hungary).
Katherine is married to Patrick Williams, and they have a daughter, (singing Masters’ student at the Royal Academy of Music) Hannah.
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Part of the University of London, Royal Holloway was founded in 1886 and opened by Queen Victoria. It is famed for its impressive Founders building and its beautiful chapel and has a strong reputation for chapel music and choral singing. Many of our previous choral course students have gone on to study at Royal Holloway. The campus is based at Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX and easily accessed from London and the South East.
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You must be between the ages of 15 and 22 to apply for this course. If you are 15, you must currently be in Year 11. If you are in year 10, please take a look at our Choral Course in York or at the Junior Choral Courses.
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The cost of this course is ÂŁ1125. There are a number of payment options available:
ÂŁ250 deposit followed by an invoice to pay the remaining balance via a bank transfer by 31st March 2025
ÂŁ250 deposit followed by two invoices - one to pay 50% of the remaining balance by 31st March 2025 and the other to pay the remainder by 14th June 2025.
The full ÂŁ1125 on application using a credit card (plus a 1.5% Stripe transaction fee)
A monthly payment plan to be completed 6 weeks before the start of the course (14th June 2025) following a deposit of ÂŁ250 on application. (monthly payments will be subject to a 1.5% Stripe processing fee)
Through one of the Foundation’s means-tested bursaries. See more below.
The refund policy is the same whichever payment option you choose. A full refund is available if you cancel the place by 5pm on 14th June 2025. 50% refund is available if cancelled after 5pm on 14th June and before 5pm on 5th July 2025. No refund is available if you cancel after 5pm on 5th July 2025. (Stripe processing fees are not refundable.)
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Our bursaries are awarded based on financial need, and the amount awarded is calculated on a sliding scale, which is means-tested. You can read about the criteria here as well deadlines and what information we need. You can apply for a bursary as part of registering for the course.
If you do not meet the criteria to receive a bursary from The Rodolfus Foundation, you may wish to look for other sources of funding. We have a list here which you may find helpful.
VISITS & GUESTS
Evensong
RHUL Chapel
Clint started singing at the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School aged ten. As a boy soprano soloist he performed with most of the major orchestras in South Africa. In 1996 he was offered an International Scholarship to spend a year at Eton College during which he was also offered a, The Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Scholarship for a four year B-Mus Degree at the RCM, London. During his studies, Clint had master-classes with Roger Vignoles, Sarah Walker, Michael Chance and James Bowman, and Anthony Rolf-Johnson.
He has been privileged to be working as a soloist for groups, orchestras and consorts worldwide throughout the US, Europe, and the Far East., Collaborating with Bach Collegium Japan, Philharmonia Baroque, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Nederlandse Bach vereeniging, Vox Luminis, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, The Hanover Band, The Academy of Ancient music, Southern Sinfonia, Salzburg Camerata, Goettingen Festspieler Orchestra, Die Lautten Compagney, Le Musiche Nove, BBC Scottish Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Stuttgart Baroque Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The King's Consort, Israel Camerata, Il Fondamento, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, and conductors, Sir Roger Norrinton, Ton Koopman, Frieder Bernius, Masaaki Suzuki, Nicholas McGegan, Jan Willem De Vriend, Kazushi Ohno, Lawrence Cummings, Claudio Osele, Nicholas Kraemer, Wolfgang Katschner, Stephen Layton, Robert King, Stephen Cleobury, Peter Schreier, Paul Dombrecht, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon and Erin Helyard, George Petrou and Ruben Dubrovsky
Equally comfortable on both concert hall and opera stage Clint has performed in venues such as Concert Gebouw Amsterdam, The Carnegie Hall(NY),The Lincoln Centre(NY), Tanglewood, St Martin's in the Field St John’s Smith Square, The Barbican, The Wigmore Hall, The Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Festival Hall, King's College Cambridge, Crown Hall(Jerusalem), Tokyo City Opera, Tokyo Suntary Hall, Koelner Philhamonie, Bozar, Die Bijloke, deSingle, La Monnaie, Sydney Recital Hall, The Royal Opera in Copenhagen, Bielefeld Theatre, Mannheim Theatre, National Theatre Budapest,National Theatre, Warsaw, Prague Estates Theatre, Royal Theatre Bath, Royal Theatre Buxton, and international festivals such asThe BBC Proms, Mostly Mozart Festival(NY), Tanglewood Music Festival(US), Badkissinger Somer Festspieler, Ludwigsburger Festspieler, Mozart Sommer Mannheim, Halle Handel Festspieler, London Handel Festival, Ambronay Festival, The Edinburgh International Festival, Cuenca Festival, The Wellington Festival(NZ), Bad Reichenhal Festspieler, Leipzich Bach Festival. Operatic roles include, Handel: Giulio Cesare in Giulio Cesare, Orlando in Orlando, Rinaldo in Rinaldo, Tolomeo in Tolomeo, Flavio in Flavio, Ottone in Agrippina, Narciso in Agrippina, Dardano in Amadigi, Arsemenes in Serse, Andronico in Tamerlano, David in Saul. Mozart: Farnace in Mitridate, Biber: Calligola in Arminio, Conti: Fernando in Don Quischotte in Sierra Morena, Monteverdi: L'umana fragilita/Pisandro/Ericlea-Ulysse, Cavalli: Jasone in Jasone, Britten: Oberon in A Midsumernight's dream, The voice of Apollo in Death in Venice. Monteverdi, Ottone in Poppea.
His extensive discography includes Handel’s Il Pastore with Harmonia Mundi, Bach Collegium Japan’s St Matthew’s Passion by Bach with Bis( Having won the Gramaphone Choral award in 2020), Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Signum Classics and most recently Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Motor music. Most recently a solo single, Salve Regina with Les Muffatti, Outhere/Ramee label.
Vocal Masterclass
Clint van der Linde
FURTHER INFORMATION
ACCOMMODATION
The accommodation arrangements differ from those of the Choral Course held there in 2024. Singers will be staying in the Founder’s Building, a prominent university landmark.
ARRIVAL TIMES
The arrival time on day 1 is different from that of any previous Choral Course. Singers must now arrive between 11:00am and 11:30am on the first day. The course will conclude on the final day between 5:00pm and 6:00pm.
REFERENCES
As part of your application, we kindly ask for a brief reference from a singing or music teacher. This reference does not affect your acceptance onto the course. Instead, it helps our directors and singing teachers better understand your musical journey so far. Please note, references are only accepted through our online portal. The link to the online portal will be emailed to you once you have registered.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS
We welcome applications from singers outside of the UK. However, please note that course fees will include an approximate 3.25% card processing fee.
MORE QUESTIONS?
Please check out the main Choral Courses page for further information, including information for organists, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, and what’s included.