The Full Story
About Us
From
'V&A Ensemble' to ''V&A Folk Choir'
Having begun in 2017 with just 10 or so singers gleaned from 2 or 3 local choirs, we named our choir 'The V&A Ensemble' using the initials of the its founders first names. (Vicki Clemerson & Alan Barnard). Our repertoire was small because of course all the songs were our own compositions or arrangements and so we performed just a couple of times a year to family and friends until we had enough songs to attract a larger audience.
In 2022 we had had a change of Musical Director and gained a. Concert Accompanist and you can read more about them below.
By 2025 the number of singers had grown to around 20 carefully chosen people from several choirs in the Derbyshire & Staffordshire areas.
As well as that, our repertoire had changed over the years to more of a folk style, so we made the decision to change the name of the choir to reflect that, and changed our name to
'The V&A Folk Choir'
and now we'd like to introduce
Rachel Atkinson - Musical Director
Elliott Walker - Concert Accompanist
Rachel Atkinson
Musical Director
Rachel joined us in July 2022. She's an established Musical Director for 3 other choirs: Waldershelf Singers, Millhouse Green Male Voice Choir and Lyrical Songbirds. She is also the pianist for The Singers Collective.
She gives piano lessons at home and has many Musical achievements and awards. She lives in South Sheffield with her husband and has 2 daughters and a son.
Elliott Walker
Concert Accompanist
Elliott has been our Concert Accompanist since December 2022. An accomplished organist, he has accompanied several choirs and soloists across Derbyshire and beyond. Hey was the co-founder and accompanist of 'Masbrough Community Choir' from 2016 until 2024 and has recently been appointed to accompany Batley Community Choir. To our great delight he often plays the organ at our concerts.
Elliott obtained a degree in English Literature at York St John University with a dissertation on Anglican Hymns, followed by a Masters in Music from the University of York. Also a post Graduate Certificate in Education at Leeds Trinity University. He now lives in West Yorkshire, where he is a primary school teacher in Morley, Leeds.