Who We Are
Committee Members
Steve Hulbert
Members’ Secretary
Steve joined Sitwells in 2018 after moving back fo Derbyshire following a 33 year sojourn in the south. His interest in singing started as a child when he sang in the church choir at Frecheville in Sheffield. Later he sang at the Schools Proms in London and also at Winchester and Coventry Cathedrals whilst in a choir in Hampshire. He has also sung in musical theatre groups and he is very happy to have joined a choir that now provides a good mix of sacred and secular repertoire.
Linda Potter
Concert Secretary
Linda began her singing career at the age of 4 singing ‘Run Little Goblin’ to an appreciative audience on The Isle of Wight. Since then she has progressed to many solo opportunities in oratorios and also recitals as a member of The Three Lindas and as a solo artist. She has been a member of the Sitwells for many years despite an extended break, but rejoined just after Covid to the joys of singing standing 2m apart and much use of masks. Sitwells is a home from home for Linda.
Musical Director
Dexter Drown
Dexter Drown is an imaginative and versatile conductor who has been praised for his utterly magical performances of passion, confidence, and flair.
Dexter is 2nd Prize winner at the Athens International Conducting Competition, 3rd Prize and special prize winner at the Ionel Perlea International Conducting Competition, Semi-Finalist at the Bucharest International Conducting Competition, and winner of the Abingdon Music Festival Conducting Competition. Dexter gained a Master’s in Orchestral Conducting with Distinction, and the Michael Beech Conducting Award, at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and has worked for Garsington Opera through their Conductor Mentorship Programme.
Next season, alongside his work as conductor of The Sinfonia Stellaris, Dexter will debut with Filarmonica Pitești. Other recent professional projects include premiere recordings with musicians from the Orchestra of the Swan, concerts with The Hadit Collective, Ensemble Ad libitum de Chambéry, and the Midland Sinfonia. As well as his work with professional orchestras, Dexter follows in the footsteps of Malcolm Sargent as Musical Director of the Leicester Symphony Orchestra, and this season has concerts with Oxford Sinfonia, Wolsey Orchestra, Milton Keynes Sinfonia, and the Helix Ensemble.
In addition to his passion for Orchestral music, Dexter is a distinguished and inspiring choral conductor and choir trainer. He has worked as chorus master for conductors including Sir Karl Jenkins, Toby Purser, and George Jackson in some of the UK’s most prestigious venues, conducted the Choir of St Martin in the Fields, Ensemble Vocal Interlude (Grenoble), and Canzonetta (Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year). Dexter is the Musical Director of Solihull Chandos Choir and is in demand as a workshop leader for Music for Everyone, St Martin in the Fields, and on the faculty of the Chester Choral Week, sharing his love of choral music with singers across the country.
In conjunction with his work with large choruses, Dexter is the conductor of the Nottingham Trent University Chamber Choir, helping shape the next generation of choral musicians, and the Musical Director of the prize-winning Sitwell Singers, Derwent Singers, and the Belper Singers. His experience in choral excellence has been recognised through collaboration with the Saltsjöbaden Chamber Choir (Stockholm) and invitations to adjudicate at the Bangor International Choral Festival.
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Deputy Conductor
David Henshaw
David enjoys conducting and singing, both in choirs and as a soloist. He conducts Derby Hospitals Choir, is Show Musical Director for Melbourne Operatic Society and Organist & Choirmaster at St. Peter’s Church, Chellaston. He has sung many operatic and Gilbert and Sullivan rôles and also sings with the Loughborough-based groups Concorde and operaHouse.
His second hobby is mending things.
