History

Mosaic Chamber Choir was founded in 2003 by:

Karen Faulkner

Our founder Karen Faulkner studied at the Universities of East Anglia and London and was, for many years, Director of Music at Sir William Perkins’s School, Chertsey. Having left the field of education, she formed Mosaic in 2003, assembling musical friends from far and wide. Karen stepped down from Mosaic in September 2012 after almost 10 years with the choir.

During that time Karen and Mosaic have raised many thousands of pounds for charities of all kinds and are available for fund-raising concerts for any worthy cause.

Benjamin Gaughran FRSM

Benjamin began his musical studies as a pianist, spending a number of years as an accompanist for a variety of choirs and musical theatre companies as well as giving solo performances. During this time, he also studied voice with British opera singer Margaret Preece and former BBC Singers member, Graham Titus. His performances as a singer have comprised both classical and musical theatre contexts, including the role of Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Artful Dodger in Oliver! Benjamin has also enjoyed singing with many choirs including The City of Birmingham Choir and The Royal Holloway Chorus.

Benjamin earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Royal Holloway, University of London where he officially began his studies as a choral conductor. Mentored by Rupert Gough, he was one of the first conductors of the Royal Holloway Founder’s Choir and also conducted The Royal Holloway Early Music Ensemble and Singers. In addition to these conducting positions, Benjamin has conducted a variety of community choirs including a ladies’ choir, male voice choir and other ensembles across the United Kingdom. Furthermore, he has been musical director for musical theatre companies with credits including: Fiddler on the Roof, Andy Capp, Oklahoma! and The Pirates of Penzance.

Benjamin Gaughran was our MD from 2012 to 2018.

Benjamin has held a number of musical posts within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been Church organist/pianist in congregations across the country for nearly 20 years. He has also been the Director of Music in congregations in Birmingham, Coventry, Gillingham and Canterbury. Furthermore, he has been the music director for many national productions and conventions. Alongside these posts, Benjamin was the area music advisor for the Coventry and Canterbury areas of the Church where he trained music leaders and other music staff in the different congregations.

With a master’s in education, Benjamin was previously Head of Music at St Thomas More Catholic School, London where he conducted The St Thomas More Choir. He has studied choral conducting with Dr. Amy Bebbington, Sarah Tenant-Flowers and Manvinder Rattan.

Benjamin was recently appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Schools of Music in Choral Conducting and is currently living and working in Michigan, USA as choral conductor.

Victoria Henshall  LRSM - Musical Director from 2021 - 2022

Victoria grew up singing regularly in school choirs and with the Ulster Youth Choir and went on to study Music at Nottingham University where she sang with their Chamber Choir – Viva Voce, and the University Philharmonic Choir. Following a PGCE and a Masters in Education at Cambridge University, Victoria trained with the British Kodaly Academy and gained her LRSM Diploma in Choral Direction from the ABRSM with Sing for Pleasure.  Since then, she has taught music in secondary schools, as well as working with the highly skilled and award-winning BHS Chamber Choir. Choral opportunities have included European Cathedral Tours, joint performances with Taplow Girls Choir and joint ventures with Reading University. Victoria’s experience leading community choirs has included taking the John Lewis Partnership Choir through to the finals of the National PartnerSing competition.

Victoria is passionate about choral directing and encouraging a love of singing through her work with choirs. She was   Musical Director of Mosaic from 2021 - 2022.