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 historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

, and later an alto choral scholar at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, under the direction of Sir David Willcocks.

Career

Following his time in college, Tim 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 Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

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

John Rutter 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, Rutte ...

as Director of Music at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a 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 University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

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

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

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 Stainer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Greg Stainer (born 1976), British musician *Jacob Stainer (c. 1617–1683), Austrian luthier *John Stainer (1840–1901), English classical composer and organist * Pauline Stainer (bor ...

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

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

and Handel

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

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 is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedra ...

organist David Dunnett, conductors

Nicholas Collon Nicholas Collon (born 7 February 1983 in London) is a British conductor. Biography A viola player, organist and pianist by training, Collon played viola in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYOGB). He studied at Eton and was an org ...

and

Robin Ticciati Robin Ticciati (born 16 April 1983, in London) is a British conductor of Italian ancestry. Biography Ticciati's paternal grandfather, Niso Ticciati, was a composer, arranger, cellist, and keyboardist. His father is a barrister, and his mother ...

, and musician and plant-collector

Jeremy Thurlow Jeremy Thurlow is an English composer, known for his chamber music, orchestral scores, vocal music setting English and French poetry as well as experimental texts, and music for dance and stage and is performed across the UK and in France, Spain, ...

. Tim is known as one of the best living choral conductors in the world.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 Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications. Faber Music has close relations to th ...

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 university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been 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 ...

, aiding its meteoric rise in the choral world. In 2011 he founded The Zürich Singing Academy;About
Sing-akademie.ch (27 January 2014). he now divides his time between Zurich 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