Cheltenham's Curious Choir is led by Sandra Burne and accompanied by Mark Harmer (Monday afternoons) and Sarah Cheung (Thursday evenings). We are also grateful that Keith Mead sometimes fills in with Mark or Sarah aren't available. All four live, teach, and perform in and around Cheltenham.
Sandra Burne by Stef Distante
Sandra graduated from Christ Church College, Canterbury, with a BA in Music and Maths and later from the Open University with an MA Ed (Applied Linguistics). Although her eclectic background includes IT management and tutoring of woodwind, Maths, and English for Academic Purposes, she has continued to perform in instrumental and choral settings. She started conducting choirs relatively recently and realised that, of all the performances she has done, it is conducting that gives her the most musical satisfaction. She has lived in the United States and The Netherlands - moving to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in 2008. Sandra also leads Tapestry Chamber Choir - a relatively new chamber choir gaining a reputation for being adaptable to numerous settings.
Mark is a choral singer and piano accompanist, and also teaches, composes and arranges for the harp. He worked in Radio and TV for 22 years and has since been part of all sorts of projects, from playing 4000-year-old Mesopotamian music to composing for babies in Gloucester hospital.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance, Diploma with Distinction in Piano Performance (LTCL) from Trinity College London and DipABRSM. Prior to the music study, she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. Sarah was the piano accompanist of Tapestry Chamber Choir, and currently she plays in the Curious Choir and gives piano lessons in Cheltenham. She enjoys performing duets and solos in the local community. Since moving to the UK, sharing music with choirs has become part of her life, which is the best way to explore different musical genres and culture. She thoroughly enjoys taking part in choir rehearsals and performance events. In addition to music, she likes flamenco dancing and Zumba; and loves spending time with her two children.
After a full career in technology and mathematics, Keith decided to adopt music as his main
retirement activity. He teaches piano to pupils of all ages, and enjoys accompanying choirs and
individual musicians. His repertoire ranges from early music to jazz, and from art songs to folk songs
and pop music.