Festival 2025
10th - 15th March 2025
Our Music Adjudicators will be:
Caroline Diffley. ARCM
Caroline studied at the Royal College of Music and spent a term at the Academia Chigiana in Siena. Her first teaching post was at the Kent Music School. She moved first to Oxford, where she taught at the Dragon School, and later to Devon where she was a tutor at Dartington College of Arts and also taught at Wells Cathedral School for eleven years. She has been an ABRSM examiner for many years, examining all over the world. She is also a diploma examiner and has been a Music Medals moderator. As well as her work as an adjudicator for The British and International Federation of Festivals, Caroline runs a busy private teaching practice in Exeter.
Peter Hunt BA Hons Mus
Peter gained a music degree from Dartington College of Arts and had a career teaching music and arts, specialising is singing and conducting choirs. He formed the Oxfordshire Youth Chamber Choir in the 1980s and took over the Berkshire Youth Choir as Head of Voice for the music service in Berkshire in 2005. He became Deputy Head of the service in 2010 until retirement.
Encouraging people to sing has always been Peter’s passion and he has conducted voices from Infant schools through to Health and Wellbeing choirs for older people and was conductor of the Chipping Norton Choral Society for twenty-four years. For ten years he led annual singing festivals for over 1500 primary children from Berkshire schools. He is a committee member of the Chipping Norton Music Festival and has adjudicated for many festivals around the country. He has led workshops and training activities for teachers and choir leaders in the UK, Europe, Canada, and USA for nearly thirty years, representing publishers and choral organisations.
In 2001, Peter launched the highly acclaimed publication Voiceworks with Oxford University Press, a series of fifteen handbooks which have become a core resource for those who lead to gain confidence in encouraging everyone to sing.
In November 2022, he led a masterclass for Koor & Stem, Belgium, ran a community choir day in Royston, and in June will conduct the Oxfordshire annual primary school Festival of Voices for the twenty eighth year. In spring 2023 OUP will be publishing SingCircle Voiceworks, a collection of rounds for singing leaders, compiled by Peter and colleague Edward Caswell.
Peter’s proudest moment was conducting 1000 young voices in the Albert Hall in 2013.
Our Speech Adjudicator will be:
Rebecca Thompson BA(Hons),LLAM(Hons)
On graduating from Bristol University with a degree in Drama and English, Rebecca worked for BBC Radio Four’s Drama Department. After further journalism and corporate work, Rebecca studied for her Licentiate Teacher’s Diploma and has been teaching Speech and Drama privately and in schools for over 25 years.
Additionally a voice and presentation skills coach in the region, she teaches in private and state schools, colleges and businesses and is a facilitator for Speaking and Listening Courses in the South Gloucestershire region; in addition she facilitates communication training in schools across the country.
Rebecca has been actively involved in theatre in the South West and is an Adjudicator for the Rose Bowl Awards for Amateur Drama and Music; she also continues to direct plays with young people.
Rebecca is passionate about developing communication skills amongst people of all ages and abilities; she sees the Festival movement as an excellent way of achieving this goal.