David Ogden

David Ogden (b.1966) is a professional conductor and composer based in Bristol. He conducts Exultate Singers, City of Bristol Choir, workplace choirs at Airbus, Arval and Bristol Beacon and in his post of Head of the Bristol Choral Centre, he organises and directs the 140 strong Bristol Youth Choirs in association with Bristol Music Trust.

He is Director of Music at Holy Trinity Church, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol where he trains and directs three choirs of young people and adults as part of the church’s active music programme.

For over thirty years he has worked with numerous professional and amateur groups of all shapes and sizes in many fields of music making, including church music, concerts, musical theatre and opera, community projects, primary and secondary level educational workshops, from small children’s groups to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.  He has made 15 CD recordings and directed choirs in numerous cathedrals, churches  and concert halls in 16 European countries and in the USA, Philippines, and South Korea. He regularly directs choral courses for  ‘Run by Singers’ around Europe. 

David has held posts as Director of Music at Clifton Cathedral and Clifton Diocese, Regional Director of the South West and Midlands of the Royal School of Church Music and conductor of the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir. He has conducted choirs on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and the World Service, and worked as conductor, arranger and music adviser for over 20 years on BBC TV’s Songs of Praise.

His compositions are published by the RSCM and White Light Publishing, and are performed in schools and churches worldwide. His music and arrangements are broadcast frequently on BBC radio and television. In Bristol, he has written songs and directed choirs for the opening of Cabot Circus, the MShed Museum, BBC Food & Farming Awards and the NHS In Memoriam project. 

In 2015 David was made a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music in recognition of his services over many years to church music and the RSCM both in this country and internationally.