Musical Directors

Gillian Sild Musical Director (2005 - Present) Gillian has lived and worked in the North East for 25 years, during which time she has become well known as both a soprano soloist and singing teacher. She has performed throughout the area in opera, oratorio, operetta and recital work, and still appears as a soloist in a variety of venues. Gillian moved to Hartlepool 18 years ago when she married Stephen Sild, and they now have four sons, who are all instrumentalists. She has been a teacher at Brougham Primary school since 1992 and has spent much of her time promoting singing within the school. More recently she worked as an animateur for the Singing Communities Project, and now Second Wave, and this has taken her into a number of other primary schools in the town to work with their choirs. She has a small number of singing pupils, including children and adults and is always keen to facilitate their chance to perform by organising concerts and entering them in local festivals. She is delighted to have been appointed as Musical Director of the Youth Choir and is looking forward to an enjoyable and productive future with the young singers. Her first challenge is to encourage more young people to join but she has every confidence that this can be done. She believes that once you discover that you have a voice and start to sing with others, you become hooked. Being part of a choral sound is an amazing experience, and it is also a wonderful opportunity to make friends with new people. Since 2007 Gillian has also been Musical Director of Billingham Oratorio Choir.

Aaron LeDean Musical Director (2005) Having been a former member and Assistant Director of Hartlepool Youth Choir, Aaron succeeded Chris Simmons as Musical Director in January 2005. In the autumn of 2005 he accepted a post with the Tees Valley Youth Choir, and ended his time with HYC.

Christopher J. Simmons Founder and Musical Director (1970-2004) Christopher Simmons is married with three daughters. His early life was spent in the south east of England. His interest in choral music stems from his time as a chorister and soloist. In 1963 he trained as a music teacher. He founded the Hartlepool Youth Choir in 1970 and has worked at St. Hild’s School – formerly Henry Smith’s - since 1973. He currently works as the Administration Manager at the school. In 1988 he went to Hungary to study choir training and vocal music in Budapest. He returned from this trip with many new pieces and techniques which has had an immense affect on the choir ever since. He is vice chair of the National Executive Committee of the British Federation of Young Choirs and represented them on many occasions at home and abroad. In 1997 he was elected to the Board of Directors of Europa Cantat, the European Federation of Young Choirs. After serving as President of Europa Cantat for three years he was elected, in November 2003, as 1st Vice President of the Federation for a further three-year term of office. He is President of the International Federation of Choral Music Commission for Children and Youth. He retired as Musical Director in December 2004.