Manvinder Rattan has been Musical Director of Hertford Choral Society and Hertford Chamber Choir since September 2021 and he recently took on the role of conductor for the Morley College Chamber Choir. Prior to this, he was Musical Director at John Lewis Partnership where he was responsible for the company’s 15 choirs, orchestra, jazz band and music tuition service. Travel featured strongly in the annual programme with performances in Rome, Venice, Florence, Athens, Dubrovnik, Palma, Lyon, Siena and Sorrento. The chamber choir, the Cavendish Singers, regularly covered services at Westminster Abbey and the orchestra, the Cavendish Ensemble, was voted one of London’s top ten amateur orchestras by Classical Music magazine.

Manvinder was CEO of the Voices Foundation from 2021 to 2024 — an organisation which promoted more and better singing for children through training teachers to lead singing in the classroom, with a particular emphasis on children in deprived areas. From 2006 to 2023 Manvinder was also Head of Conductor Training for Sing for Pleasure, the UK’s largest provider of training for choral conductors. He was a judge on Gareth Malone’s BBC2 series, ‘The Choir – Sing while you work’, and he is still often greeted in the street when a repeat is being aired. He’s a popular judge for choir competitions including, in the past, for the BBC Choir of the Year.

As well as his musical commitments to HCS, he is Musical Director of Serafine Chamber Choir and Sinfonia, professional ensembles with whom he has released the premiere recording of Oliver Tarney’s acclaimed Magnificat. In 2016, Manvinder was awarded an honorary doctorate by York St John University for his services to music and conducting, and in 2021 he was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Schools of Music in Choral Directing. Manvinder has also been appointed an ambassador for Music for All.

Recent projects have included ‘Come and Sing’ events at the Royal Opera House and directing Messiah in Nairobi. He is also a regular soloist for the Adhaan from Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.