John Potter is one of the world’s most experienced ensemble coaches, having been a member of groups as diverse as the Swingle Singers, Electric Phoenix, the Hilliard Ensemble, and currently Red Byrd and The Sound and the Fury. He has coached many ensembles that now have international reputations, such as Singer Pur and Amarcord (Germany), Lumen Valo (Finland), the Kasseopaeia Quintet (Holland) and Trio Mediaeval (Norway). His chapter on ensemble singing in the Cambridge Companion to Singing is the standard introductory text.
John Potter coaching students at the University of York (photo courtesy of Research & Innovation Issue 3 (2009) John is currently working on a new teaching project on historical singing style and technique. This is an attempt to re-connect early music singing with actual history and re-introduce some of the elements which the early music movement has so far not sought to recover. It's in the early stages of development (it may consist of several elements such as a web resource, a number of seminars with specialist performers, and perhaps a competition for historical singing). If you would like to be kept informed about this (or any of John's other teaching and coaching activities) please contact him directly by sending an email to the address on the contacts page.
