some history

Born in the UK, Andrew received his formative choral education as a resident chorister at Durham Cathedral. He has a Bachelor of the Arts Combined Honours Degree in Music and Drama from the University of Birmingham, U.K., where he also founded an a cappella octet, a Big Band, conducted the chamber orchestra, directed the University Musical Society and sang with a number of University and semi-professional groups.

Andrew worked extensively with the choir and orchestra of Ex Cathedra (dir. Jeffrey Skidmore) both as singer and administrator. Whilst with Ex Cathedra he helped establish and develop their county-wide choral education project and worked as a tutor for these and similar projects for the British Federation of Youth Choirs. He taught music in secondary schools, was a private singing teacher, voice and elocution coach and trained in ‘positive assertive discipline’.

 member of the internationally-renowned a cappella group The Swingle Singers 

In 1997 Andrew joined the internationally-renowned a cappella group The Swingle Singers and toured the world with them for 5 years singing all styles of music (from classical, through jazz and contemporary opera) and giving workshops and masterclasses in schools and universities. He had the privilege to work directly with Luciano Berio on performances of his opera Outis at La Scala Milan and Le Chatelet Paris, as well as on a DVD recording (under Peter Eotvös) and numerous performances of his Sinfonia with conductors Pierre Boulez, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, David Roberston, David Zinman, Arturo Tamayo, amongst others, and with Kent Nagano on a live recording of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd.

He has sung on numerous movie soundtracks as well as backing vocals for Jarvis Cocker, PULP, Russell Watson, Roch Voisine and Garou, has toured with Chris de Burgh and sung on a number of pop albums. He founded the Villars Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and has toured and recorded with British professional chamber choir Tenebrae.

Following his arrival in Montreal in 2010, Andrew Gray rapidly established himself in the region’s music scene as a choral director, choir trainer and arranger. He is presently musical and artistic director of Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, artistic director of the Montreal Choral Institute, conductor of its in-house chamber choir Voces Boreales, and the founder and director of the  SingMontréalChante choral education project.

Since his arrival at Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal he has been involved in collaborations with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Bach Festival, Les Grands Ballets Canadien, Opera Montreal, the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Montreal #375, PODIUM 2018, and the Metropolitan Orchestra, to mention but a few.

He has worked as guest chorus master with multiple choirs, including Chœur classique Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Chœurs du Nouveau Monde and Cirque du Soleil. He has prepared choirs for conductors and composers, including Kent Nagano, Zubin Mehta, Karl Jenkins, Joby Talbot, Stephen Layton, Gregory Charles, Iwan Edwards, Jordan de Souza, Jean-Pascal Hamelin, Robert Ingari, Alain Trudel and Stéphane Laforest and has directed vocal ensembles for popular artists Cœur de Pirate, Les Trois Accords, The Beach Boys, Nikki Yanofsky, Marie-Mae, Malajube, Radio Radio, Sarah McLachlan, Kenny Rogers, Roger Water (‘The Wall’) and The Canadian Tenors. In 2011 Andrew conducted both the opening and closing choral/orchestral concerts of the Mondial Choral Festival in Laval.

Through his work with the Montreal Choral Institute and its flagship choral ensemble Voces Boreales, Andrew explores diverse and exciting contemporary choral repertoire, in particular the work of Canadian, Scandinavian and Baltic composers, as well as presenting conducting and choral workshops each season. Recent world premieres include works from Tim Brady, Lucas Florczak, Stephanie Moore, Dominique Lafortune, Ben Duinker and Jason Noble. In summer 2018 he will direct Voces Boreales at the Lanaudière Festival for a special performance of Joby Talbot’s extraordinary choral masterpiece Path of Miracles. 

Previous to 2016, Andrew was the artistic director of the Chœur des enfants de Montréal, assistant conductor at the Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul, and the general manager of the St. Lawrence Choir.