Frances Henderson

I was a Chorister at Wells Cathedral for eight years, leaving in 2007. I served as Deputy Head and Head Girl Chorister, singing under Malcolm Archer, Rupert Gough, and Matthew Owens. Highlights included tours to France, the Low Countries, and Paris, performing at iconic venues like Sacré-Cœur and Notre-Dame, singing with Dame Emma Kirkby and Jools Holland, and recording CDs each summer.

After studying Criminology at De Montfort University, I worked six years as a Legal Secretary in Bristol and sang with Exultate Singers, touring Portugal, Sicily, and the Balkans. In 2017, I moved to Weston-super-Mare and joined the police as a Special Constable in 2019, becoming a full-time officer in 2020. Following a CID placement, I am currently an Acting Sergeant with a Response Team. I serve as the first-line manager for a team of constables, acting as the primary liaison between officers and senior leadership teams.

Choral music is still a huge part of my life today. Returning to the Cathedral and singing Evensong feels like coming home, and my chorister years remain one of my most treasured and formative experiences. “it was an incredible, historical, and wonderful thing to have been part of. I'm extremely proud and honoured to have been a Wells Cathedral Chorister.”

Being a Chorister is one of the best musical educations you could hope for. Being so disciplined at such a young age is such a key skill for your future career. My time as a chorister instilled a strong work ethic and time management skills.

Meeta Raval

Meeta Raval (pictured above) was one of the first girl choristers at Wells in 1994 (Wells Cathedral was only the second in the country to admit girl choristers into its Cathedral Choir). Meeta left the choir in 1996 but the singing bug had bitten and she went on to study singing, gaining an place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and then the Royal Academy of Music, before joining the prestigious National Opera Studio in 2009.

In 2012, Meeta took to the stage as Cio Cio San in Anthony Minghella’s production of Madama Butterfly at the English National Opera and sang Donna Anna in Opera North’s Don Giovanni. In 2013, Meeta performed the solo soprano in Verdi’s Requiem at the Sage Gateshead, Newcastle. This same year, she made her recital debut at London’s Barbican Hall with a Puccini Gala and sang at the Royal Festival Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and Manchester Bridgewater Hall in a series of ‘Simply Gershwin’ recitals with the London and Manchester Concert Orchestras.

Meeta’s many accolades include becoming a world finalist at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011 (pictured above), and winning the Dame Eva Turner Prize for “a soprano with dramatic potential”. She was the inaugural prize-winner of the Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize. She was also the recipient of the Independent Opera Award.

Jeremy Lloyd

Jeremy Lloyd (chorister 1999-2004) recently made his West End debut in the box office smashing hit The Comedy About A Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre.

On leaving Wells Cathedral School, Jeremy (here pictured on the far right as his character, the hapless Office Randall Shuck) won a place at LAMDA (the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) having been awarded the Boris Karloff Charitable Foundation Scholarship.

Jeremy's theatre credits include Princess Ida (Finborough Theatre), How Many Miles to Babylon? (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Springs Eternal, The Breadwinner, The Man Who Pays the Piper (Orange Tree Theatre), The Busy Body (Southwark Playhouse), Angry Young Man Angry Young Woman (Arcola Theatre), A Christmas Carol Suite (NYJO at Ronnie Scott’s), Giant Leap (Pleasance Edinburgh), and Unearthed (Arcola Theatre/Brewhouse Theatre/West Country Tour). He starred in the black comedy horror film The Hatching (Sabre Films) and played the role of Benjamin Britten's school friend, David Layton, in Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict (Capriol Films).

About his performance at the Criterion, the Official Theatre review said: 'The pure inventiveness and innovation behind this play is what makes it such a blinding success ... with newcomer Jeremy Lloyd absolutely stealing the show as the overworked, distressed Officer Randal Shuck’.