Tim Jeffree
Tim started singing in church choirs in East Anglia at an early age and was Head Chorister at All Saints, Hartford. This choir joined others on a regular basis and Tim sang in both Ely Cathedral and Kings College Chapel under Sir David Willcocks and on Songs of Praise. Tim sang as a tenor with St Ives Choral Society but, upon leaving to go to Portsmouth Polytechnic to study engineering, singing somehow became side-lined for over 20 years. In 1997 however Tim joined St Peters School Choir and was “persuaded” by his co-tenor, the Philomusica Chairman, to join us. Tim now runs a carpentry business, based at Prinknash Abbey, making church and domestic furniture and joinery. Tim says “Because of the lack of neighbours there, I have been known to practice during working hours in an attempt to catch up on the lost singing years”. Tim’s business goes from strength to strength including a commission from St Matthew’s, Northampton, a church famous for its commissions, which is now able to boast works by Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland and Tim Jeffree. Tim studies with Linda Parsons
James Quinn
James has been playing the piano from a very early age. Taking up singing at Bath Spa University, he was then invited to become the choir’s rehearsal accompanist. He also accompanied the Chamber Choir and acted as répetiteur for several opera and music theatre productions. At the same time he continued to develop as a solo pianist and had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses with several distinguished pianists, including Steven Osborne.
After obtaining the degrees of Bachelors of Music and Masters of Music Performance from Bath Spa University, James returned home to Gloucester and joined Philomusica in January 2012.
James is the Accompanist for Churchdown Male Voice Choir. He is regularly invited to play for other local choirs, including The Severnside Singers, and the Innsworth Military Wives Choir.
Derek Taylor
Derek has sung in choirs throughout his life. He went to Brentwood School, Essex where there was a strong musical tradition. He sang as a soloist in the chapel choir which had the honour of singing several services at St Paul’s when the Cathedral choir was on tour; he has also sung at St Albans and Canterbury. The school choir also sang with the town choral society. While at London University he sang with the Royal College of Music mixed choir. He has been a member of several societies and joined Philomusica some eight years ago. His other musical interest is making and playing brass instruments. Recently he has taken a deeper interest in the valveless natural or “Baroque trumpet”, The trumpet he plays is one he constructed himself from brass sheet using traditional methods. It is a replica of an instrument by Hanns Hainlein from 1632 - the original is in the Munchener Stadtmuseum. Derek also plays and sings with the Midlands Early Music Forum.
