Our Team

Becky chalmers (founder/ musical director)

Becky studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she graduated with MMus with Distinction in Flute Performance. With constant back pain making an orchestral career a less attractive option she changed course and landed a dream first job: working on the Caribbean island of Montserrat with the sole aim of inspiring young people to make music. She discovered a passion for making music in community settings and creating opportunities to bring out people’s musical potential: from founding the National Youth Choir of Montserrat to community ukulele bands and musical theatre projects.

On her return to London Becky worked as a freelance workshop leader, leading choral and orchestral projects in primary schools and working with adult choirs. She eventually worked up the courage to start Real Voices in 2016.

As a teenager Becky studied Flute and Piano at the Junior department of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She often skived the compulsory choir element in favour of a cheeky coffee and a croissant. She didn’t even like coffee but was told that musicians drink coffee. She went on to study Music and Spanish at Newcastle University graduating with first class honours.

“Becky has a talent for taking musical novices and making us sounds good, alongside creating a unique group culture that makes you feel part of something special. We are non-audition but she keeps the quality of the choirs high due to her talent, encouragement and fantastic detail in her song arrangements. She has founded and continues to run a really special choir, which is why people have been members for years!”

— Alto, Vauxhall

anna hale (Musical director: brixton & vauxhall)

Anna studied Linguistics at the University of York, and passed with a First Class Honours degree, even though she spent most of her time in the Musical Theatre Society and various choirs. She also managed to wriggle her way into the Music department to study an elective module in Conducting.

A proud ‘multi-hyphenate’, Anna balances her time between theatre and music, working as an actor, director, singer, musical director, and teacher. She’s thrilled to be joining Real Voices, which combines two of her greatest loves, choirs and pop music. Anna has sung in choirs for as long as she can remember, in a wide range of styles, and is usually described as the keenest kid in the room. She has a particular love for acapella, and is a proud member of London-based acapella choir MVox, with whom she performed at the London Palladium in 2023.

Anna also creates and shares her own vocal arrangements on social media. Her online content has accumulated over 2.5 million views, and has been viewed and shared by artists such as Chris Martin, Jacob Collier, Dodie and Cody Fry.

digory price (musical director: balham & crystal palace)

Digory started singing in a choir at the age of 8 years old, and has been hooked ever since. An experienced conductor, piano accompanist and teacher, Digory has performed in venues across the world, including the Royal Albert Hall, St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. He plays regularly for Grosvenor Light Opera Company and has worked with choirs including: Sing ON (Opera North), Leeds Cathedral Choir, and Chiswick choral society.

Digory holds an MMus in Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he went on to spend a year as Repetiteur and conducting fellow within the opera school. He also holds a BA Hons in Music (First Class) from Leeds College of Music.

Real Voices is a highlight of Digory's week: he loves the energy of the singers and the wonderful community within the choir. Digory also finds that in addition to leading the choir, there is a lot he can learn from them too!

“Digory is such a great teacher. Amazingly energetic and supportive”.

— Alto, Balham.

“Digory is fun, collaborative & inclusive. Rehearsals always include: laughter, silly chats & a trip to the pub!”

— Soprano, Balham

ellie pybus (musical director: clapham & deptford)

Wanting to brave the move to London in 2018, Ellie applied on a whim for this fun looking choir called Real Voices that looked like they enjoyed the pub a lot. The rest is history…

Ellie was actually forced to join her school choir when she was 11, but much to her surprise she absolutely loved it and hasn’t looked back since! She then joined every choir she could find before heading to the University of York where she graduated with BA Hons in Music (First Class).

She’s explored many genres of choral music in her career so far, taking her to perform in iconic locations such as the Vatican and the Royal Albert Hall. Ellie started off in early choral music before the Pitch Perfect hype drew her to A Cappella where she found her spark for arranging music. She then fell in love with the Gospel groove which is where she picked up a lot of her infamous moves.

Outside of choir life, Ellie has worked for Youtube and has had the pleasure of collaborating with successful artists like Stormzy, Ed Sheeran, WizKid, Anne Marie, The Pussycat Dolls, The Sugarbabes, KSI & Todrick Hall.

Ellie’s favourite thing about Real Voices is the look on the choirs faces after listening to a tricky part in a song for the first time. It’s as if they are saying ’you are joking, aren’t you?’. She already knows that by the end of the rehearsal, they will have nailed it, as they always do!

“The most joyful, bubbly, optimistic person. Her energy is infectious so you go home smiling”.

— Alto, Tooting

“Bonkersly talented and talentedly bonkers”

Bass, Clapham

“Ellie is extremely talented, enthusiastic & funny. She puts you at ease from the beginning”

— Alto, Clapham

olivia doust (musical director: tooting)

Olivia is a musical director and singing teacher working mainly in Musical Theatre and with choirs. She studied at the University of Sheffield, gaining a BMus in Music and then later at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama for her Masters in Voice Studies (distinction).

She now splits her time between Real Voices, teaching performers-to-be at Higher Education drama schools and conducting/arranging for The Pink Singers, Europe's oldest LGBTQ+ choir. Olivia loves to draw from a wide range of musical genres, including jazz, blues, RnB and indie pop.