What do you do for a living?
I’m Assistant Director of Music at Gloucester Cathedral, Director of Saint Cecilia Singers and Accompanist to Gloucester Choral Society. As a ‘Three Choirs Festival’ ADoM, I’m involved each year with the Festival as an accompanist and am Festival Organist in the Gloucester years. I try and keep my freelance concert work going in amongst all of that too.
Have you lived in Gloucestershire all your life?
It feels like it! In a good way, of course. I was born in Portsmouth and grew up in Guildford. I then spent 2007-2012 in London, doing my degree at the Royal College of Music, and being Organ Scholar of Southwark Cathedral, which I merged with part-time piano/organ teaching jobs at Sevenoaks School and the City of London School. I then moved to be Organ Scholar of Winchester Cathedral, before being snapped up by Gloucester in 2014.
Where is your favourite place in Gloucestershire?
A tricky question – we in Gloucester are so lucky to be so near the Cotswolds, the Forest of Dean and the Welsh border. Perhaps Chosen Hill, as you can see most of Gloucestershire - on a clear day you can see Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury all at once.
​Which bit of the building at Gloucester Cathedral do you love the most?
Obviously, it will have to be the organ loft, but not just because it’s my ‘office’! You get an equally brilliant view of both the Nave and of the Quire (and the Great East Window). Also, because Sir Herbert Brewer is buried by the loft door, which gives me a huge sense of personal perspective when I step in and step out of the organ loft.
If you had to name your favourite choral piece, what might it be and why?
There are so many: but my all-time favourite piece (not just as a choral work), must be Elgar’s ‘The Dream of Gerontius’. I could write an entire book about why I love it so much – but I would say my favourite extract of the piece would be the duet between Gerontius and the Angel towards the beginning of Part 2. The word Dream is used well in the title, let’s say.
Is there a choral piece that you would love to conduct, but haven’t yet?
In terms of something that I could conduct for a choir of 25-30 singers (i.e. SCS), I would love to conduct the Rachmaninov ‘All-Night Vigil’. It’s simultaneously both indulgent and sincere, and both intimate and impressive, with a harmonic language to make you want to eat cake.
What has been your favourite moment or event during your time with the Saint Cecilia Singers?
Conducting SCS in Parry’s complete ‘Songs of Farewell’ in Gloucester Cathedral Quire (Parry’s ‘home’ cathedral) during the 2018 centenary celebrations organised by Gloucester Choral Society.
Where in the world would you most like to visit, but haven’t?
Alaska. Failing that, anywhere else with beer, mountains and very few people.
​If you could read only two books from now on, which ones would they be?
 Michael Ondaatje’s ‘The English Patient’ – I love the 1996 film, but the book is full of beautiful language and imagery, so it’s no wonder the film was so special.
Anthony Capella’s novel ‘The Food of Love’ – set in Rome and full of scrummy Italian food recipes.
Which four figures from the past would you like to have at your dinner table?
Sir Edward Elgar – my favourite composer, and a worthy facial-hair competitor.
Oscar Wilde – ‘we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’.
Winston Churchill – a dangerously similar diet.
Noel Coward – like Churchill, a great manipulator of language and wit.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Music, joint in importance with my lunch break.
What other hobbies do you enjoy outside of music?
I’m a big film enthusiast, and am a devoted Manchester United supporter, despite not having a Northern bone in my body. My wonderful long-suffering girlfriend is incredibly nice when it comes to watching Man United games with me, but I usually bribe her with a Deliveroo Five Guys on match-days, just to make sure it’s still OK.
What are you most looking forward to after lockdown eases?
I’m looking forward to life getting back to normal, but perhaps at a slower pace. I’ve never been able to make peace with why life must be so cluttered all the time. Less philosophically, though, perhaps the simple luxury of a beer on a sunny day with my closest friends and colleagues wouldn’t go amiss.

What do you do for a living?
I'm a Speech and Language Therapist based at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, specialising in voice therapy and head/neck cancer.
Have you lived in Gloucestershire all your life?
No - the majority of my childhood was spent in Reigate, Surrey, with boarding school in Hertfordshire, followed by Oxford. I moved to Gloucestershire in 1999, so have been here half of my life now.
Where is your favourite place in Gloucestershire?
When we moved here, we lived off Bath Road in Cheltenham, and I still love its bohemian feel. Chosen Hill is another favourite.
​Which bit of the building at Gloucester Cathedral do you love the most?
I still love the grandeur of looking down the nave, to the organ high above - I feel lucky to sing there every time.
If you had to name your favourite choral piece, what might it be and why?
I'm afraid I need at least 3: Howells - Take Him Earth for Cherishing; Parry - My Soul, There is a Country; and at Christmas time, Chilcott - The Shepherd's Carol
Is there a choral piece that you would love to sing in, but haven’t yet?
I've never had the chance to sing in Beethoven's 9th - I imagine it's pretty exciting.
What has been your favourite moment or event during your time with the Saint Cecilia Singers?
The joint concert we did with The Oriel Singers, Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra and Cheltenham Youth Choir, performing Jonathan Dove's 'For an Unknown Soldier'. Tewkesbury Abbey was packed to the doors and the fantastic atmosphere made all the hard work for quite a challenging piece really worthwhile.
​Where in the world would you most like to visit, but haven’t?
Japan and New Zealand, preferably on the same trip!
If you could read only two books from now on, which ones would they be?
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks and Watership Down by Richard Adams. Although they're both rather serious, so perhaps I'd better choose Douglas Adams instead and have the Hitchhiker's Guide series!
​Which four figures from the past would you like to have at your dinner table?
Stan Lee, Robin Williams, Judy Garland and (not strictly from the past, as he's still with us) David Attenborough.
What was your favourite subject at school?
English Literature, although Music was a close second.
What other hobbies do you enjoy outside of music?
Cooking, travel (when it's allowed), movies (especially sci-fi), gaming. I'm currently trying to learn Japanese and how to hula hoop!
What are you most looking forward to after lockdown eases?
Being able to meet with friends at the pub! Donating my (very lovely) children to their grandparents so that my husband and I can go for a ridiculously extravagant dinner somewhere.

What do you do for a living?
I retired from full-time ministry in 2017 but I am Acting Area Dean of Gloucester City at the moment.
Have you lived in Gloucestershire all your life?
I was born in Birmingham and we moved to Gloucester Diocese in 2003 when I became Vicar of St Mary's, Charlton Kings.
Where is your favourite place in Gloucestershire?
Chipping Campden. My mother was born there and I have fond memories of visiting relatives when I was a boy.
Which bit of the building at Gloucester Cathedral do you love the most?
The Quire. It's a fabulous space and the great east window is rather special.
If you had to name your favourite choral piece, what might it be and why?
Bach's St John Passion. I am always deeply moved by the final chorus ('Ruht wohl') and the chorale that follows.
Is there a choral piece that you would love to sing in, but haven’t yet?
Poulenc's Four Penitential Motets or the Four Christmas Motets.
What has been your favourite moment or event during your time with the Saint Cecilia Singers?
Singing 'Take him, earth, for cherishing' by Howells
Where in the world would you most like to visit, but haven’t?
Guadaloupe and/or St Martin in the Caribbean. (I'm a huge fan of 'Death in Paradise' which is set in Guadaloupe and St Martin has an amazing approach to the runway!)
If you could read only two books from now on, which ones would they be?
A History of Christianity (Diarmaid MacCulloch) and the next Dan Brown thriller!
Which four figures from the past would you like to have at your dinner table?
Bach and Handel (they could have a conversation they never managed before); Thomas Cranmer (he could provide some more texts for the composers); my Father (he died when I was sixteen and it would be good to learn more about his life - especially his D-Day involvement)
What was your favourite subject at school?
Geography
What other hobbies do you enjoy outside of music?
Walking, cycling and anything connected to civil aviation.
What are you most looking forward to after lockdown eases?
Meeting up with the family and catching up with our six grandchildren.

What do you do for a living?
I manage the Treasury at the National Trust
Have you lived in Gloucestershire all your life?
Pretty much. I was born here and stayed until leaving for university in Leeds. My first job was at Warwick Festival so I lived there for 7 years until moving back to Cheltenham where I’ve been every since.
Where is your favourite place in Gloucestershire?
Minchinhampton Common - I grew up there and it still feels like home
Which bit of the building at Gloucester Cathedral do you love the most?
Definitely the cloisters - no other cathedral comes close to Gloucester’s architecture, and the acoustic is delicious too.
If you had to name your favourite choral piece, what might it be and why?
That’s really difficult, so many lovely pieces associated with great friends but if pushed, it’s got to be Bach B minor. Beautifully constructed and satisfying both to perform and listen to.
Is there a choral piece that you would love to sing in, but haven’t yet?
Several of the big ones, including Verdi Requiem - time to join TCF perhaps?
What has been your favourite moment or event during your time with the Saint Cecilia Singers?
Rehearsing Parry’s Songs of Farewell in a completely empty nave (no chairs) standing in a circle on a Tuesday evening May 2018. The centenary concert was pretty moving too.
Where in the world would you most like to visit, but haven’t?
Japan
If you could read only two books from now on, which ones would they be?
I rarely read a book more than once and always novels rather than biographies or poetry
Which four figures from the past would you like to have at your dinner table?
Tricky - are they all coming at the same time and would they all need to get on? All the great world leaders and artistic types tend to be controversial and temperamental in nature. Right now I’d like a good laugh so would like to invite a little outrageous behaviour into the mix from Billy Connelly and Tim Minchin, with Maggie Smith to keep them just about in line, and Rev Richard Coles to add a little kindness to the humour.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Music obviously, and Maths.
What other hobbies do you enjoy outside of music?
We always cook and eat well (it’s become a lockdown competition). I also enjoy a good house renovation project!
What are you most looking forward to after lockdown eases?
Booking some holidays and weekends away with friends.