Oliver Tarney was born (1984) and educated in Lancaster, moving on to read music at Manchester university. After completing a Master’s Degree in composition, and training as a teacher, he is now Head of Academic Music and Composition at Winchester College in Hampshire. He sings regularly with the college’s chapel choir and with Winchester Cathedral choir.
His most recent works are published by Oxford University Press, including the Missa Media Nocte and The Wise Men and the Star. Other recent pieces Lux Stellarum, a requiem written for the American Cathedral in Paris, first performed at St Sulpice, and Majora Canamus, written for the Southern Cathedrals’ Festival in Winchester, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. A Prayer of St Richard of Chichester was written for Sansara Chamber Choir (winners of the 2015 London International A Cappella Choir Competition) with whom he is an associate composer, and has been recorded on their their acclaimed CD, Cloths of Heaven (Convivium Records).
2019 saw his St Mark Passion, commissioned by the St Endellion Easter Festival 2019, given its first performance. His 2014 Magnificat has been recorded by Serafine Chamber Choir & Sinfonia and released on the Convivium Records label to wide critical acclaim. Other recent recordings include a setting of Maria Virgo assumpta est for Suzi Digby’s Ora Singers, and a set of three Christmas pieces (The Waiting Sky, Balulalow, and The Wise Men and the Star) recorded for Sansara’s most recent album, The Waiting Sky.
Oliver has worked extensively with ‘Sing for Pleasure’, the national choral organisation that promotes choral singing in communities, choirs, and classrooms, and a number of his arrangements are published by SfP Publishing. He is passionate about inspiring others to find a love of singing.
Buy Oli’s music from the Sing for Pleasure shop
