James Llewelyn Jones B Mus (Hons). M Mus.
Musical Director & Conductor

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ames was born in New Zealand and raised in Montgomeryshire. He was, for many years bass section leader of the National Youth Choirs of Wales and Great Britain and a founder member of the National Chamber Choir. His musical education continued at Birmingham Conservatoire where he gained his B Mus (Hons) and M Mus.




James conducted the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain for some 11 years, where his initiatives saw the formation of the National Children’s Training Choir GB and also Dulce Corum (the National Girls’ Chamber Choir).

He also has a long association with;

European Union Children’s Chorus (Hungary)
Senior Choirs and Chamber Choir of Edgbaston High School for Girls, Birmingham.
Phoenix Singers, Bournville (Musical Director).
Four Counties Youth Choir; Wales (Vocal Tutor).
Youth Music Great Britain (Vocal Tutor).
National Association of Choirs (Choral Clinician & Workshop Leader)

He was also the conductor of Canzonetta Children’s Choirs of Manchester – formally the internationally acclaimed Manchester Boys’ Choir.

In 2006, James succeeded D. Clive Griffiths M.B.E as Director of Canoldir. He immediately led the choir to success at the Jersey International Choral Festival; winning gold in the Male Voice Choir Competition, qualifying them for the Choir of Choir’s competition. They triumphed again winning the coveted “Jenner’s Trophy,” (the Jury’s prize for best musical interpretation of the festival) which was awarded by Sir David Willcocks who said of Canoldir, “This is how Male Voice Choirs should, but rarely sound.”

More recently, following Canoldir’s successes in winning 3 major prizes at the Cornwall International Male Voice Choral Festival, Europe’s largest male choral festival, James was commended by the International Jury for his innovative competitive programme and the choir’s unique style and consistently high, technically assured performance.

James has toured extensively to America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Italy; Poland and France leading to invitations to lead workshops in Sydney, Canberra and New Zealand from the Australian and New Zealand Choral Federations.

He is in great demand as a choral clinician and workshop leader and in 2011 he returned to Chicago at the invitation of the Association of American Choral Directors following a successful visit in 2008 conducted a massed symposium of 400 children for the Glen Ellen Children’s Chorus.

He has twice been invited to work with the Toronto Children’s Chorus – firmly regarded as the finest children’s choir in the World.

In 2010 James was invited to be a guest conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus- Seniors.

Under his direction the Senior Choirs and Chamber Choir from Edgbaston High School for Girls’ performed to great acclaim. In 2010 they had the great honour of appearing as Guest Artistes for Hayley Westenra’s ‘Christmas Wishes’ concert at Symphony Hall which also featured X Factor’s Rydian Roberts.

James has tutored and prepared the youth choirs for the annual BBC Radio 3 St.David’s Day Concert in St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, including new works by Karl Jenkins conducted by the composer.

James has recently been invited to become a Choral Clinician and workshop leader for the National Association of Choirs.

Founding Musical Director
Clive Griffiths MBE LTCL

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D. Clive Griffiths is the Founding Musical Director of the choir.  He was born in Aberfan and studied at the College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, prior to taking up a teaching post in Birmingham.  

Under his direction the Choir achieved numerous successes, and will undoubtedly continue to maintain this high standard as a result of his musical expertise.

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Jakob GrubbstrÖm
Deputy Musical Director

​Jakob has been appointed our Deputy Musical Director.  He's from Sweden, and he completed his Master's Degree in Choral Conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music under the tutelage of Sarah Tennant Flowers and Neil Ferris.  Jakob also holds a Degree in Classical Guitar from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and frequently performs as a Chamber Musician and Soloist in the UK and throughout Europe.
​Jakob brings great experience to the Canoldir's Music Team​

Accompanists
Jill Godsall LRAM

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ill was born in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's High School and then at Birmingham Conservatoire where she studied piano with Lilian Niblette. Having completed a graduate course she was awarded a scholarship to Siena where she studied the art of accompanying. One of her fellow student at Siena was Gwyneth Jones.
Since then, Jill has been a piano and music teacher at Solihull School. Some of her former pupils have gone on to distinguished musical careers, for example the internationally celebrated organist and composer David Briggs who now lives in America.

She has made innumerable appearances on  radio, television and the stage, accompanying artists such as Sir John Tomlinson, Benjamin Luxon, Philip Langridge and Robert Tear.

For many years, Jill was the key member of her local operatic society both as accompanist and secretary. Her association with the choir goes back nearly 40 years when she became the chosen accompanist for many visiting guest artists. Finaly in 2002 Jill became the choir accompanist.

Heather Howell GBSM ABSM

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Heather was born in Sussex and brought up in Devon. She began playing the piano at the age of 11 and was the accompanist for the local operatic society by the age of 16. Heather graduated at Birmingham Conservatoire where she studied the piano with Beryl Chempkin and piano accompaniment with Malcolm Wilson. She was the winner of many awards including the Burke trophy for piano accompaniment and the Vincent Lieder prize with Elizabeth Hetherington. Heather now teaches music and piano at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham. She is in much demand as an accompanist for both singers and instrumentalists performing in many locations in Great Britain and abroad. She joined Canoldir in 2009 as an accompanist.She also became one of the accompanists for the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain
Sara Wilander, MMus, PhDip, PgCert, BMus(Hons).
Sara Wilander was born in Sweden and started playing the piano at the age of eight. At the age of 15, she made her debut as a soloist with the Sinfonia Classica of Brussels, Belgium.Whilst still at secondary school, Sara studied with Professor Rolf Lindblom of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
 After preparatory studies at the Conservatoire National de Région of Chalon sur Saône, France, she continued at Birmingham Conservatoire under Simon Nicholls and Malcolm Wilson, where she completed her Bmus(Hons), PgCert, PgDip and MMus. She has an international background and has participated successfully in Swedish, German, English and French competitions, as a soloist as well as an accompanist. She is an experienced performer and has appeared in both solo and chamber settings throughout Europe. She is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and as an accompanist. Sara is also a harpsichordist and has just recorded a CD with her renaissance duo Fabula Musica.