The Musicians

Susan Farrow Topolovac - Conductor
Ian le Grice - Accompanist

Susan Farrow Topolovac trained initially as an organist, harpsichordist and pianist, studying with organists Nicolas Danby (Royal College of Music), Gillian Weir and Nicolas Kynaston and pianists Sheila Mossman and Wilfrid Parry. Turning her attention to conducting, she studied with Sir Charles Groves, Johannes Geffert in Germany and, more recently, with Vernon Handley.

In addition to a busy schedule of conducting engagements, Susan holds the post of Music Director to a number of choruses and orchestras. These include the Alleyn Chorale, St. Monica's Singers, the Janus Ensemble - an instrumental and vocal ensemble specialising in the performance of Bach and Handel - the chamber choir Concordia, the North London Sinfonia, and Mosaic - an eight-voice professional vocal ensemble.

Susan's extensive repertoire includes choral and orchestral music and opera from all periods. She has a particular affinity with early music and has given numerous performances of many of the major choral and orchestral works of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During the last several years her repertoire has included many large-scale choral-orchestral works and in 1995 she conducted the World Première of David Snell's Requiem at St. John's, Smith Square, London.

Susan has appeared in most of the major British concert venues, and in Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Finland, the Czech Republic and the United States, and she is a regular contributor to radio and television. Her appearances have ranged from performances of Mozart and Bruckner for Channel 4 to a visit to the John Dunn Show to answer listeners' questions about the orchestra.

Susan has completed her three seasons as a guest conductor with English National Ballet, conducting works by Tchaikovsky, Minkas and, unusually for the world of ballet, J.S. Bach.

In 2002, Susan Farrow Toplovac was appointed Music Director of the St Cecilia Chorus, in succession to Richard Stangroom. Her first concert with the choir was a performance of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio in November 2002.

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IAN LE GRICE Accompanist

Ian le Grice received his early musical training as a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal College of Music and as a Chorister at the Temple Church, London. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music, gaining diplomas in piano and organ, and winning the Geoffrey Tankard Organ Prize.

He has maintained his association with the Temple Choir, accompanying them on many occasions for services, concerts and broadcasts, and recording with them under the direction of the late George Thalben-Ball and Sir David Wilcocks. In 1982 he was appointed Assistant Organist of the Temple by the Honourable Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple. In addition to his recital activities, which include frequent appearances at the Fairfield Halls, he is Musical Associate of the English Arts' Chorale, accompanist to the Croydon Philharmonic Society and a visiting lecturer at the University of Surrey Roehampton. His association with Banstead Musical Society began in 1983 when he was appointed the choir's accompanist.

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