Timothy (Tim) Brown (born 9 December 1946) is an English choral conductor.

Education

He was a chorister at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, and later an alto choral scholar at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, under the direction of Sir David Willcocks.

Career

Following his time in college, Brown went on to become a

lay clerk A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic cathedral in the UK, or (occasionally) college choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars choral w ...

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, and later worked as a schoolteacher for a number of years. In 1979 he succeeded

John Rutter Sir John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, R ...

as Director of Music at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

and Director of the college choir. In his time at Clare he released several acclaimed recordings with the choir (largely on the

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

label) by composers including Rutter,

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

and Stainer. In 1986 he re-founded the Cambridge University Chamber Choir, directing annual performances of all the major

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s. He later founded the London-based professional chamber choir, English Voices. Many of his students have gone on to form successful careers in music, notably

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

orimnist David Dunnett, conductors Nicholas Collon and Robin Ticciati, and musician and plant-collector Jeremy Thurlow. Brown is known as one of the best living choral conductors.Hickman, Pamela. (6 July 2011
Pamela Hickman's Music Interviews Blog: British conductor Timothy Brown talks about his career till now, his future plans and about conducting professional- and amateur choirs
Pamelahickmansmusicinterviews.blogspot.co.uk. He has edited a number of choral volumes for Faber Music and is a contributing editor to the complete edition of music by

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

, published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. In 2010, after 30 years in the role, he retired as Director of Music at Clare College, and became Visiting Director of the choir of

Robinson College, Cambridge Robinson College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both ...

. In 2011 he founded The Zürich Singing Academy;About
Sing-akademie.ch (27 January 2014). he now divides his time between

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and Cambridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Timothy 1946 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) English choral conductors British male conductors (music) Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge Choristers at Westminster Abbey Lay Clerks of New College, Oxford People educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School