Catz student shortlisted for Women of the Future award
Chloe Rooke, a third-year music student at St Catherine’s, has been shortlisted for the Women of the Future Awards, which recognise and provide a platform for successful young women in Britain.
The Awards were founded in 2006 with a vision to strengthen the pipeline of female talent in the UK, and they celebrate women from a diverse range of sectors including business, arts & culture, media and sport. This year there are 14 awards in total, with Chloe shortlisted as one of five in the ‘Young Star’ category.
Chloe holds the Répétiteur Scholarship at Catz, in conjunction with New Chamber Opera, and through this has worked on operas including Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Walton’s The Bear and Stravinsky’s Renard, and oratorios by Handel and Bach.
Since joining the College, she has founded and conducted the St Catherine’s Chamber Orchestra, been appointed conductor of the Oxford University Wind Orchestra, and was recently appointed the first conductor of the newly formed Oxford University Press Orchestra. She was also the musical director for original musical Stop, which was selected as the Oxford University Drama Society’s National Tour production for 2017, recieved numerous 5-star reviews, and was shortlisted for Best Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Outside of term time, Chloe is founder and musical director of Wycombe Student Music which brings together university students for projects in their Christmas and Summer holidays, most notably including a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Summer 2016 in aid of two local charities.
Of being shortlisted, she told us: “I feel incredibly honoured to have been shortlisted for such a prestigious award; it is a privilege to join a network of such forward-thinking, inspirational women. Gender is so often thought to be an obstacle in conducting, but I’m excited to prove this is not the case.
“I hope my shortlisting might encourage other female students to see that musical direction is a viable career for them too. The musical world in Oxford is a better place because people of all genders are allowed to innovate, lead, perform and make a positive impact.”
The winners will be announced on 15th November at the Women of the Future awards ceremony in London. See their website for more information.