The Finzi Trust
Registered charity number: 313047
Registered address: P O Box 137, Shaftesbury SP7 0WX.
Registered address: P O Box 137, Shaftesbury SP7 0WX.
Founded in 1969, the Finzi Trust seeks to further the music, work and ideals of Gerald Finzi, assisting individuals and organisations and initiating projects which reflect its policy of encouraging artists and composers to develop their creativity.
The Trust has given support to recordings, performances, masterclasses, lectures, music festivals, composition awards, song competitions, composer-in-residence schemes and commissions. It works closely with Finzi's publisher, Boosey and Hawkes, in ensuring the composer's music is available globally in scholarly editions and versatile arrangements.
We acknowledge with deep appreciation the kindness shown by Jean Finzi to the Finzi Trust. A Trustee from 1992 until her death at the age of 90 in 2016, Jean's focus centred on creative encouragement, taking particular interest in offering opportunities for young musicians. Her legacy enables the Trust to strengthen this area of its work, putting into practice Finzi's expressed wish to 'shake hands with a good friend over the centuries'.
The Trust has given support to recordings, performances, masterclasses, lectures, music festivals, composition awards, song competitions, composer-in-residence schemes and commissions. It works closely with Finzi's publisher, Boosey and Hawkes, in ensuring the composer's music is available globally in scholarly editions and versatile arrangements.
We acknowledge with deep appreciation the kindness shown by Jean Finzi to the Finzi Trust. A Trustee from 1992 until her death at the age of 90 in 2016, Jean's focus centred on creative encouragement, taking particular interest in offering opportunities for young musicians. Her legacy enables the Trust to strengthen this area of its work, putting into practice Finzi's expressed wish to 'shake hands with a good friend over the centuries'.
Trustees
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Robert Gower - Chairman
A lifelong devotee of British music, Robert joined the Trustees in 1981, becoming Chairman in 1997. Retiring in 2012 from a teaching career in boarding schools, he now works as Organist of Nottingham Cathedral, music examiner and editor. His publications include seasonal anthologies of organ music (both with and without pedals), ceremonial and graded albums and composer volumes for Bliss, Finzi, Ireland and Walton. Travel writing and border terriers present enjoyable non-musical challenges. Andrew Burn - Honorary Secretary
Andrew Burn read music at the University of East Anglia and has pursued a career in the arts and music management working for English National Opera, Citizens Theatre Glasgow, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. For 15 years he was also Artistic Director of the Chester Summer Music Festival. He was written and broadcast extensively on British music of the 20th and 21st centuries and is a founder member of the Arthur Bliss Trust. ELIZABETH POOLEY - ADMINISTRATOR
Liz Pooley has enjoyed a long association with the Finzi Trust since assisting at their first Weekend of English Music in 1981; she also served on the committee of the Finzi Trust Friends for 20 years. She teaches, as a woodwind specialist, and has a lot of experience in the area of music administration where she was involved in organising music festivals. She is currently also Administrator of the Arthur Bliss Trust. Christian Alexander
Christian Alexander was born in Liverpool and attended Bristol University where he studied composition with Robert Saxton, as well as lessons with Peter Maxwell Davies, Steve Martland and Louis Andriessen. Christian’s music has been broadcast both in the UK and abroad, and performed by many leading musicians, ensembles and orchestras. In recent years, Christian has written extensively for dance and moved into the field of electronic music. He divides his time between teaching at a boarding school in Berkshire and composing. JUDY DIGNEY
For the last ten years Judy Digney has been a fundraising consultant to charities and arts organisations following a career in arts management. Her consultancies have included fundraising and strategic advice for Tate, Sadler’s Wells and The Royal Academy of Arts and she led the Development Departments at the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Whitechapel and Barbican Art Gallery. She is a Trustee of The Harkness Fellows Association and of Music as Therapy International. ORLANDO FINZI
Orlando Finzi is the grandson of Joy and Gerald Finzi and has an enthusiastic interest in his grandparents’ lives and music. Orlando’s professional life is in finance rather than in the musical world, but he maintains the Finzi family’s strong tradition of musical appreciation. NIGEL HILDRETH MBE
Nigel Hildreth studied at Sheffield University and following his studies taught and secondary schools in Sheffield and Essex before moving to The Sixth Form College in Colchester where he was Head of Performing Arts for nearly 30 years. He now works freelance for The Essex Music Education Hub and directs the Colne Valley Youth Orchestra which he started in 1981. In 2011 he was awarded an MBE for services to music education and he was fortunate to be one of the first Finzi scholars, choosing to spend time in Estonia and Sweden looking at folk music and education. ALEX PATTERSON
Alex Patterson is Director of Music at Nottingham Cathedral. He studied at the University of Nottingham and Birmingham Conservatoire and is a highly experienced choral animateur, particularly for community and youth music-making, and leads singing workshops across Nottinghamshire with people of all ages and abilities. He conducts several community choirs and also works for Arts Council England. Alex is a freelance composer and has has written a wealth of choral music which has been performed globally, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and distributed by Banks Music Publications. MICHAEL RIMMER
After graduating with a degree in Classics from Oxford University in 1986, Michael Rimmer became an Investment Manager. He worked as an equity portfolio manager at Schroders and Investec, and in 2005 became one of the one of the founding partners of London-based investment boutique Origin Asset Management. He is a photographer, art historian and author, specialising in Medieval art and architecture. He loves music, but has yet to show any discernible instrumental ability. STUART RITCHIE QC
Stuart Ritchie was a music scholar at Radley College where, with piano his first love, he learned the organ under the despairing eye of the Trust’s current Chairman. Following a degree in modern languages at Oxford in 1993 he qualified as a barrister and has been in practice in commercial and employment law since 1996, latterly at Fountain Court Chambers in London. He was appointed a QC in 2012 and a Master of the Bench of Middle Temple in 2014. Music continues to be a precious hobby. He is Chairman of the Bar Choral Society and has accompanied amateur singers, choirs and other instrumentalists both within and outside the Inns of Court. PAUL SPICER
Paul Spicer is best known as a choral conductor and came to prominence through many recordings and concerts given by the Finzi Singers. He conducts the Birmingham Bach Choir and the chamber choir at the Birmingham Conservatoire which is also gathering a substantial recording presence. He teaches choral conducting at Birmingham Conservatoire and Oxford University. Paul was Senior Producer for BBC Radio 3 in the Midlands until 1990 and until 2001 was Artistic Director of the Lichfield Festival and the Abbotsholme Arts Society, posts he relinquished in order to pursue a freelance musical career. Paul is a busy composer and writer; he has recently completed a choral symphony commemorating the centenary of the First World War called Unfinished Remembering and also a biography of Sir George Dyson which follows his acclaimed biography of his own composition teacher Herbert Howells. |