Musical Director - John Cuthbert
John enjoys a varied musical life of piano accompanist, répètiteur, musical director, chamber musician and singer. As a piano accompanist he has performed in the Wigmore Hall, London with Katherine Crompton (Soprano), Fairfield Halls in Croydon, London with Edward Grint (Baritone) and the Elgar Room in the Royal Albert Hall with Emilie Renard (Mezzo-Soprano). In 2017, he won the accompanist prize in the AESS Dame Patricia Routledge song prize in which he accompanied fellow prize-winner, Katy Thomson. John is also a Samling Artist and former Piano Accompaniment Fellow at the Royal College of Music.
As an orchestral pianist, celeste and harmonium player, John has worked with the City of London Sinfonia, London Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra. With the latter, John has performed in Bucharest, Frankfurt and Lucerne as well as the Royal Festival Hall in London.
As well as these John has worked as a répètiteur with English Touring Opera and the National Gilbert and Sullivan Festival Company. In 2017 John became the Musical Director of Opera in Oborne, staging intimate performances of operas, both well-known and less familiar, in a village church in Dorset. He now also works regularly with Opera Della Luna for whom he répètiteured their production of Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers for its UK premiere in 2022. This year he was Assistant Musical Director for Opera Della Luna’s production of Charles Dibdin’s Sweeney Todd: The String of Pearls, a Victorian melodrama, with extracts of contemporary music of the mid-19th Century providing incidental music as well as songs and underscore for the scenes.
Aside from playing the piano, John is also a tenor, and sings in the choir of All Saints’ Margaret Street in London, as well as deputising for the choirs of St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and St George’s Windsor.
Accompanist - Andrea Kmecova
Born in Slovakia, Andrea Vargas Kmecová is a classically trained pianist and piano teacher. Graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava (Slovakia) and Trinity College of Music, London, Andrea is passionate about bringing the art of piano playing to people through her educational and performing work.
Andrea has been teaching piano in schools and privately for over twenty years. She aims to combine creativity with teaching methods based in structured plan. Most of her students achieve excellent results in exams and auditions. In 2014 Andrea founded a private piano studio in Greenwich, Piano Maestros, with a vision to offer regular concert opportunities and piano-related events for her private pupils.
In September 2022, Andrea started working as a peripatetic piano teacher at Radnor House Sevenoaks, where she also undertakes a role of an accompanist for grade exams.
Andrea is a versatile pianist performing regularly as a soloist, vocal and instrumental accompanist, and chamber musician. Her professional work encompasses classical recitals, private events, recording sessions, cruise ship engagements and interactive therapeutic concerts in care homes and community centres.
Andrea played at some leading venues and festivals, including The Royal Overseas League, the Houses of Parliament, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Oxford Lieder Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and at a concert for Sofia, former Queen of Spain in the Royal Palace, Madrid.
In 2012, she collaborated with jazz musician Jamie Cullum for his BBC Radio 4 programme Jamie Cullum’s Piano Pilgrimage; other television appearances include BBC2, Slovak Television, Bulgarian Television, National Cypriot Television, and Turkish ATV. She is featured on a few CD albums of vintage-inspired singer Patricia Hammond; Our Lovely Day, Songs of the Great War, and She Wrote the Songs played on BBC Radio 2 and 3.
Andrea worked as an official staff accompanist at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and Junior Trinity College of Music in Greenwich, and she plays regularly for the Take Note Choir based in Blackheath. She is also the resident pianist at the Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath, and organist at St James C of E in Kidbrooke, SE3.
info@takenotechoirblackheath.org
We are a community choir in Blackheath and would love if you could feature our story as we are building bridges across generations and across the borough, bringing joy through singing and concerts to raise funds to help the Lost Chords Charity
Here is our story
The Power of Song.
Take Note Blackheath Choir is a vibrant community choir bringing musical theatre, pop and classical favourites to life in rich harmony.
We have been a staple of Blackheath and surrounding boroughs for a few decades, always with a brilliant dedicated choir master and fantastic pianist to accompany the songs and support us in hitting the right key.
With a fantastic bass section providing depth and warmth, our specially crafted arrangements ensure every voice gets its moment to shine while supporting the whole sound.
Led by choir master John Cuthbert, who tailors each piece for the group, we create a unique blend of voices that’s both powerful and joyful. Andrea is hugely talented and knows exactly when to hit that key that puts us back on track, while bringing rhythm and style to each song.
We rehearse in the beautiful All Saints Church in the heart of Blackheath, where the wonderful acoustics make every note ring out.
We welcome new members in all voice parts. Some experience of singing is useful, but the ability to read music is not essential.
We rehearse on Monday evenings, during term time from 7:30 to 9pm. We prepare a free concert for family and friends on the last rehearsal of each term, where we raise funds for the Lost Chord Charity. This helps set up regular sessions at what is now a well-established Lost Chord venue at St. James Church, Kidbrooke, which now welcome 20-30 attendees every second Friday of the month at 11:30 AM, featuring professional musicians.
Come and experience the harmony, and maybe even join us!
written by Elise
