Claire Rutter was born in South Shields, and grew up in the New Forest, Hampshire. She began singing at the age of 15, and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the National Opera Studio in London.

Her husband, Stephen Gadd was born to parents from Bristol and brought up in Coventry, where he was a chorister in the Cathedral. He studied Engineering at Cambridge University before focussing on singing at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Claire and Stephen met when cast together as Count and Countess in The Marriage of Figaro for Scottish Opera. [More information about Claire & Stephen can be found at www.RutterGadd.co.uk]

Their son, George Gadd, was born in Glasgow, and became a chorister at Winchester Cathedral in 2006. He plays piano and double bass.

His sister, Arabella Gadd, is a keen pianist and cellist, and was born while her parents lived in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Her grandmother, Doreen Rutter, was brought up in London, where she lived through the Blitz. After bringing up four children between fashion modelling and film shoots, she now lives in Hampshire and takes a very active part in the lives of her grandchildren.

This album is dedicated with undying love to the memory of Claire’s father, Roland, and of Stephen’s parents, Vivienne and Michael.

Richard Balcombe is not only a highly regarded conductor of mainstream opera in the UK and abroad, but is also much in demand as a music director in London’s West End. His extraordinary versatility extends to orchestration and arranging, and he has created reduced orchestral versions of dozens of complete operas, which are now used worldwide.

The Boy Choristers, Lay Clerks and Organists of Winchester Cathedral, under their Director of Music, Andrew Lumsden, are widely recognized as one of the UK’s leading cathedral choirs. Their repertoire reflects their thousand-year long tradition of leading choral worship, ranging from plainsong to works by today’s foremost composers.

They have also performed around the world in concerts and services, most recently in Florence, Salzburg, and Göttingen, and on tour in the USA. Closer to home, they sang at the naming ceremony of the Cunard liner, the Queen Victoria, in Southampton, and at the opening of the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Choristers: Rupert Dugdale (Head Chorister), Nathaniel Archer, George Gadd, Dominic Judd, Jacob Harger, Samuel Harris, Hyunseog Lee, James McGill, Philip Normand, William Peat, James Picton-Turbervill, Angus Robinson, Rex Roxburgh, Thomas du Val de Beaulieu.

Lay Clerks: James Armitage, Simon Barwood, Richard Childress, Simon Gallear, Jamie Hall, Richard Holt, Adrian Hutton, Simon Irwin, William Kendall, Timothy Pride, John Robinson, Paul Sartin, Jonathan Upfold.

Recorded at Cadogan Hall, London, 7th September 2008, and (Easter Hymn) at Winchester Cathedral 17th September 2008.
Producer: Andrew Walton, K&A Productions
Engineers: Phil Rowlands (Cadogan Hall) and Andrew Lang (Winchester Cathedral)

Video filmed at Fleetwood Studios, The Watercress Line in Alresford, and other locations in Hampshire.
Director: Chris Dixon, Create Media Partners Ltd.
Camera: Keith Hicks / Mike Sanders / Julian Brower.
1940’s re-enactors “On Parade” were Andy Ames, Melanie Ames, Jamie Aspin, John Butcher, Suzanne French, Carol Fuller, Colin Fuller, and Jo Nutley.

Photographs by John Stoddart
and Lindsay Walsh (Claire with guitar), Joe Low (Claire in blue), Eric Richmond (orchestra) & Jim Pascoe (Claire with choir).

Design by Nerv Media, Cheltenham.
Web Site by Stephen Gadd.

Claire and Stephen have been overwhelmed by the friendship and generosity of so many people who helped in the production of this album, among them:

Jamie Aspin (NuYu Fitness), Howard Colvin, Andrew Walton, Richard Balcombe, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Andrew Connolly, Carolyn Hendry, Jodie Keane, Chris Dixon, Mike Sanders, The Watercress Line, Colin and Carol Fuller, Sue Armstrong, John Stoddart, The Dean & Chapter of Winchester Cathedral, Dr. Brian Rees and Staff of The Pilgrims’ School, Helen McLeod, Craig Ogden, Ali & Paul Dugdale, Andy Lumsden, Leo Vordoni, Raymond Howden, Frank & Lisa Doyle, Julia Petrie, Doreen Rutter, Tina Price, Jo Carpenter, Anthony McNeill, Joe Low, Jim Pascoe, Pete & Angie Appleby, Charles Kilpatrick, Penelope Kirk (Headmistress, Prince’s Mead School), Christopher Green, Wendy & Alan Wharton, Lindsay Walsh, Jo d’Andrea, Gerald Martin Moore, Philip Glassborow,

- and especially Sue and Alan Wilson.