MARK OPSTAD
Artistic Director
_heic.png)
Mark Opstad is an Anglo-French choral conductor. He was appointed to the Choral Music department of the Toulouse Conservatoire in 2003 and in 2006 created the Maîtrise de Toulouse, becoming the first choir school in South-West France. He has built up the choir over the last twenty years, establishing it as one of the leading choir school model choirs in Europe.
Mark consecrates most of his time to the Maîtrise today. Initially he trained as an organist and gave organ recitals in seven European countries. He continues to work as a pianist accompanist (including for the English Choral Experience). He is a composer and arranger of choral music (published by Anima Nostra editions).
Mark began his musical training as a chorister, and Head Chorister at Bristol Cathedral and Music Scholar at Bristol Cathedral School. He studied Music at Oxford University where he was Organ Scholar of Balliol College, organising the choir’s first foreign tour to France, including singing at Notre Dame, Paris. He was also a cellist in the Oxford Sinfonietta. On leaving Oxford Mark was recipient of a Coolidge Award, allowing him to travel the United States for two months. He continued his studies at Cambridge University where he accompanied the choir of Clare College as assistant organist. Mark studied the organ with David Sanger and the piano with Raymond Fischer.
On leaving Cambridge Mark was awarded an Entente Cordiale Scholarship from the British and French governments allowing him to continue his musical studies in France. He studied the organ with Lynne Davis at the Caen Conservatoire (Médaille d’Or). It was in Caen that Mark first became involved with the revival of French choir schools as assistant to the director of the Maîtrise de Caen for two years, training of the choristers and accompanying the choir’s weekly concerts.
In 2003 a survey of choir schools in France was published, with a map showing not a single choir school in South West France. Seeing the huge potential of the choir school model within the Conservatoire system Mark proposed the creation of a Maîtrise for Toulouse. Marc Bleuse, then director of the Toulouse Conservatoire (and previously Directeur de musique at the Ministry of Culture in which role he had been involved in the re-creation of the Maîtrise at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles) employed Mark Opstad to the Toulouse Conservatoire with the mission to create the Maîtrise de Toulouse.
Creating a choir from scratch Mark has been able to build on different models and influences, including the renowned English model in which he grew up. Mark believes that the success of the choir depends on bringing together several core values : Transmission from older to younger members is at the heart of this model, teamwork and the pursuit of excellence within a warm and happy environment open to pupils from all origins.