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Sir Peter
Ellwood VLL CBE
President |
Sir Peter Ellwood and his family moved to
Northamptonshire when he joined Barclaycard, having worked
for Barclays Bank in the City for several years. After
Barclaycard he moved to the TSB Bank rising to the position
of Group Chief Executive of the Lloyds TSB Group. After
retiring as a banker in 2003, he became Chairman of ICI plc
and subsequently Chairman of Rexam plc. He was also for many
years Chairman of Visa International. His focus now is on
the charity sector: he is a Non-Executive Director of St
Andrew’s Healthcare, and also Chairman of the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra Advisory Council. He describes
himself as an extremely ordinary, if enthusiastic, violinist
and a great fan of the Northampton Bach Choir, with whom he
is very proud to be associated. Peter was Knighted in the
2010 New Year’s Honours List, and holds honorary doctorates
from Leicester University and University of Central England. |
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The Northampton Bach Choir is delighted and honoured to have Sir
Peter Ellwood VLL as our President. Sir Peter is our figurehead in
the region, and a genial and hands-on presence at our concerts and
events. The choir is administered by a voluntary committee made up
of choir members. The committee is headed by the Chairman, with
Secretary, Treasurer and Concerts Manager as officers; the Musical
Director serves on the committee ex officio. The committee meets six
to eight times a year, and is responsive to feedback from choir
members, our ‘Friends’ and our audience members. |
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David Tristram
Chairman |
David Tristram is a retired secondary head
teacher, with a background in Classics and Ancient
Civilisation, who now works with the University of
Northampton. Although blues music is still a passion, David
got the choral music buzz as a founder member of the Wisbech
Choral Society and after singing with Louth Choral Society,
he graduated to the real thing with Northampton Bach Choir.
Despite having no formal musical training, he is now
Chairman of the choir, leading the direction of the
organisation and overseeing all aspects of its
administration. |
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Sheila Moakes
Secretary |
Sheila Moakes is a retired Director of
Nursing who worked extensively in the Middle East and now
has her own consultancy company in Health Care Planning and
Equipping. Sheila came to singing through a small church
choir and sang with numerous choirs in whichever expatriate
community she found herself. She enjoys a wide variety of
music, from popular (she listens to Radio 2 on car journeys)
through Jazz and Rock, and now sings tenor with NBC. In her
retirement she is now studying the Theory of Music and plans
to sit her ABRSM exams. As Secretary she is responsible for
the paperwork associated with the day-to-day administration
of the choir and directing enquiries as appropriate to the
query. |
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Jennie Woods
Treasurer |
Jennie Woods worked in banking for a number
of years until she gave herself early retirement which led
to her involvement in the running of several organisations
in a voluntary capacity. Jennie had piano and singing
lessons as a child and has enjoyed being a member of various
large choirs for rather longer than she would like to admit,
and is very proud that she sang Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis
no fewer than eight times in a fortnight under the baton of
Carlo Maria Giulini. Having been the Choir’s Chairman for
the last five years, she is looking forward to a lesser role
in future with more time for her other interests, which
include golf and cordon bleu cookery. |
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Mark Gibson
Concerts
Manager |
Mark Gibson started singing in choirs at the
age of eight, and joined the Northampton Bach Choir before
going up to University in Nottingham, where he sang in the
University Choir under the baton of the extrovert Ivor Keys.
Mark later rejoined the Northampton Bach Choir, and has been
privileged to sing under such maestros as John Bertalot,
Michael Nicholas and Stephen Cleobury. He conducts his own
chamber choir and has acted as chorus master training church
choirs, the New Phoenix Chorus and the Wensum Camerata. His
professional life was spent as a chartered Civil Engineer
and when not involved in music activities he has a
particular interest in a preserved narrow gauge steam
railway in mid Wales. |
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Crawford Craig
Membership Secretary |
Crawford Craig is a retired secondary maths
teacher who is now a chair of governors of a Northampton
primary school. Crawford sang in his school choir as a pupil
and then, except for occasional lapses, did not sing again
until after he retired, when his wife persuaded him to join
the NBC. Taking a voice test (which involved singing to a
proper musician he’d barely met!) was a major psychological
hurdle. In truth, of course, the hurdle was inside his head,
and Lee was as friendly and encouraging as it was possible
to be. Since joining the choir there have been many
occasions when he has felt he has died and gone to heaven –
it has been a wonderful 5 years with some unforgettable
experiences. |
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Judy Ellwood
Friends
Secretary |
Judy Ellwood has taught in colleges,
run day courses in her home on a variety of topics and taken
groups to Italy looking at art. She is now a key fundraiser
for the British Red Cross in Northamptonshire, and recently
hosted a joint fundraising lake-side event for both the Red
Cross and the Bach Choir. She had piano lessons as a child,
but liked “playing by ear” far too much! She has sung with a
number of choirs, but for over twenty-five years she has
loved learning and performing beautiful music with the
Northampton Bach Choir. She enjoys looking after the
Friends’ of the Northampton Bach Choir, and is committed to
nurturing the valuable contribution they make to the choir
and its activities. |
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Alan
Robertshaw
Sponsorship |
Alan Robertshaw is semi-retired, having
spent his working career in the global food industry. The
sum total of Alan’s musical training is one week as a child
at a Royal School of Church Music residential school and
one week in his forties at the School of Piping in Glasgow.
All the rest is from singing in choirs. The bagpiping gets
put in whenever there is no-one around to object ... which
isn't often! Alan is an enthusiastic gardener and sings bass
with NBC and tenor with a choir based in Harpole. He
currently looks after sponsorship and fund-raising on the
committee, aimed at bridging the impressive gaps between
cost and revenue for most of the works in the choir's
ambitious repertoire. |
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Liz Baird
Committee
Member |
Liz Baird has sung with the
Northampton Bach Choir for many years, and has enjoyed the
challenges thrown up by successive Musical Directors. She
has also relished the great variety of music performed by
the choir, from Renaissance Madrigals and Baroque
masterpieces, right up to the most modern pieces, including
pieces written especially for the choir. She works alongside
our Membership Secretary to ensure that the difficult job of
placing all the singers in situ for concerts works smoothly
and efficiently, and ensures that our Health and Safety
policies are in place and all our venues risk assessed, for
performers and audience alike. |
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