About
Harmony Across Borders warmly welcomes amateur choirs from any nation and of any age to come together to showcase and celebrate the works of female composers. We are launching in 2026 in Cambridge and will give participating choirs the chance to perform in this city of historic choral traditions. There will be a range of competitions, workshops and talks, informal concerts as well as the gala final concert.
Founder
Hilary Nicholls
Hilary Nicholls is a life long choral singer and has sung under the directorships of Sir David Willcocks, John Scott and Neil Ferris. Hilary studied French and Italian at Oxford University and has had a varied career spanning investment banking, languages teaching, political engagement and charitable campaigning including Rory Stewart’s London Mayoral campaign and for Cardiac Risk in the Young.
She has also authored two books, Little Miracles about her experience with premature twins and Hell Unearthed, a modern adaptation of Dante’s Inferno.
Ambassadors
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Cecilia McDowall
Cecilia McDowall is one of the UK’s leading composers of sacred and secular choral music. She has won a number of awards including the 2020 Ivor Novello Award and the 2014 British Composer Award (Choral Category). McDowall’s music has been performed by prominent choirs including the BBC Singers, St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Cathedral, and in 2021 she was commissioned to write a carol for the King’s College Cambridge Christmas service.
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Joanna Forbes L'Estrange
Joanna Forbes-L’Estrange studied music at Oxford University and is now an acclaimed soprano singer, composer and choir director. In 2023, L’Estrange was commissioned to compose an anthem for the King’s Coronation, and in 2018 she organised and conducted the first entirely female recording session at Abbey Road. L’Estrange sings with London Voices and has performed on stages across the world including the O2, Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and Glastonbury. In 2017 she was a judge on the Sky series Sing: Ultimate A Cappella.
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Joanna Gill
Joanna Gill is an award-winning composer of Choral, Film, and TV music. Gill’s music has been performed by a variety of prestigious ensembles including the BBC Singers, the London Symphony Chorus and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, Gill was awarded the Cappella Nova Award for her piece commemorating 100 years since women received the vote. Recently, Gill was commissioned by HRH King Charles III to write a Scottish folksong for Queen Camilla which was sung at the Honours of Scotland Service in July 2023 following the King’s Coronation.
Judges
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Paul Mealor LVO CStJ
HONORARY PRESIDENT
Paul Mealor LVO CStJ is a renowned composer of choral music. Mealor has composed music for some of the most important Royal occasions of the past decade, including the wedding of The Prince and Princess of Wales in 2011, two works for the National Services of Thanksgiving for the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and two works for the King's Coronation in 2023. In recognition of his services to Royal Music HM King Charles III appointed Mealor to the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in 2024; he was the first composer to receive this honour for over 55 years. In the 2012 Classic FM Hall of Fame, Mealor was voted the 'nation's favourite living composer', and in 2021 Mealor composed the official hymn for the RAF.
Mealor has also written a significant number of film and TV compositions which have won him BAFTA and Brit Awards. In 2011 he wrote what became the Christmas No 1 - 'Wherever You Are' - for Gareth Malone and the Military Wives Choir.
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Suzi Digby OBE
Suzi Digby OBE is an internationally renowned choral conductor and music educator. She has trail-blazed the revival of singing in UK schools and the community founding a number of arts and education charities. In 2007 Digby was appointed an OBE by the Queen for services to music education. Her professional vocal consort, ORA Singers won Germany’s Opus Klassik for Best Ensemble of the Year, 2018. Digby has two Ivor Novello awards recognising her as one of the leading commissioners of new choral music in the world.
In 2014, Digby launched a professional consort in California, The Golden Bridge and is currently a visiting Professor at University of Southern California.
Digby has conducted major choral-orchestral works and annually conducts 2,000 voices in the Royal Albert Hall in a scratch Youth Messiah. Digby is the official choral conductor for The Rolling Stones and fixed and coached 70 local choirs for 70 cities internationally for their 50th Anniversary Tour. She was a judge on the BBC1 TV hit show Last Choir Standing, with over 7 million viewers. She regularly adjudicates choral competitions and gives workshops and lectures around the world.
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Sir John Rutter CBE
Sir John Rutter CBE is an internationally acclaimed composer and conductor. Much of his early composition work consisted of church music and other choral pieces including Christmas carols. From 1975–79 he was Director of Music at Clare College Cambridge, and directed the college chapel choir in various recordings and broadcasts. Since 1979 he has divided his time between composition and conducting. Today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world. In 2023, Rutter arranged six pieces for the King's Coronation, and his work was also performed at both the weddings of The Prince and Princess of Wales in 2011, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. He edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir the Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings, and he appears regularly in several countries as guest conductor and choral ambassador.
In 2007 was awarded a CBE for services to music. In September 2023, he received the Ivors Academy Fellowship, joining a prestigious list of 24 Fellows including John Adams, Kate Bush CBE and Sir Elton John.
Rutter received a knighthood in the King's Birthday Honours 2024.
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Tristan Meister
Tristan Meister is a choral and orchestral conductor based in Germany. In 2007, he founded the Ensemble Vocapella Limburg and in 2015, he founded the semi-professional chamber choir Vox Quadrata. Meister also works with young musicians as the musical director of the Hochtaunus Youth Choir. In recognition of this work, Meister was awarded the prize for best conductor in the annual International Choir Competition in Varna, whilst his choir also won first prize.
As an orchestral conductor, Meister regularly works with the Mannheim Chamber Philharmonic, and the German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate. He currently works as a lecturer in choral conducting at the Conservatoires in Mannheim and Frankfurt am Main, whilst also regularly judging choral competitions and sitting on the Regional Committee of the World Choir Council.
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Mariana Rosas
Mariana Rosas is an Argentinian conductor based in the UK. In 2023, Rosas began working as the Chorus Director at the prestigious London Symphony Chorus renowned internationally for its concerts and recordings with the Orchestra. Early into her tenure, Rosas conducted the soundtrack recording for the critically acclaimed film Maestro.
Alongside her work at the LSC, Rosas works regularly with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Birmingham Opera Company, the online choir Soundabout for young people with learning disabilities and the Royal Opera House. Previously she has spent time working with the Rundfunkchor Berlin and Crouch End Festival Chorus. In 2021, Rosas won second place in the Dima International Music Competition for choral conductors. Rosas is also a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Birmingham.