Welcome to my new website.
It’s been revamped and streamlined a little and I hope you can find all the information you need about me.
Do click on the ‘Contact’ page to get in touch.
About
As a Countertenor Soloist Tim Travers-Brown has sung a broad gamut of Baroque and Classical repertoire with some of the foremost Early Music Ensembles in the UK and across Europe, America and Japan for over 25 years. He has been a keen exponent of Bach, singing with The Israel Chamber Orchestra/Kraemer in Tel Aviv, The Dunedin Consort/Butt in The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, The Sixteen/Christophers in Porto, The English Concert/Bickett in Valletta, The London Bach Singers/Feinstein Ensemble and Bach Collegium Japan in Tokyo Opera City Hall to name but a few. See Repertoire. He has also performed many of Handel’s Oratorios, notably with The Hannover Hofkapelle, The London Handel Festival Orchestra/Cummings, St. Albans Bach Choir/Lucas, The Thomas Tallis Society, and Messiah with Arcangelo, City of London Sinfonia and The London Mozart Players. Other notable engagements have included Trond Kverno’s St. Matthew Passion at St Olaf Festival Trondheim, Italian Renaissance Polyphony with Philippe Herreweghe, Purcell’s Ode on the death of John Blow (Stour Music with Michael Chance), Vivaldi Stabat Mater(English Philarmonia), Purcell Odes with The Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh across Europe, Britten Canticles at St. Paul’s Cathedral/Mark Williams and numerous performances with The London Bach Singers and The New London Consort – further, see Media and Repertoire
As a Recitalist, Tim has relished the intimacy of performing with pianists Jeremy Filsell (Windsor Castle, Washington DC and a solo disc - see Discography) Simon Watterton (Royal Holloway University) and Paul Drayton (Trelowarren, Cornwall) and lutenists James Akers (Handel House Museum), David Miller (Segovia, Burgos, Windsor Castle) and Jacob Heringman (Early Music Show, BBC)
In Contemporary Music he has loved performing with groups such as Exaudi (Ensemble Intercontemporain in Poppe’s Interzone at Cite de la Musique/Philarmonie 2), The Royal Opera House Orchestra (Maazel 1984, conducted by the composer) and with artists such as David Fitzgerald (the album Columcille and on the BBC’s ‘First choice’ programme). It was a labour of love for Tim to record a disc of songs by British Composers with his great friend Jeremy Filsell (see Discography). It includes two world premiere recordings of Song Cycles by Michael S. Howard and Betty Roe, alongside songs by Peter Warlock and Herbert Howells.
Tim has been an eager participant in many Choirs and Consorts since his time as a treble in Chelmsford Cathedral Choir. At the start of his career, he was a Lay Clerk in the choir of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He returned there in 2014, where he has sung at the weddings of Prince Edward and Sophie, Prince Harry and Meghan and Princess Eugenie, as well as the funeral of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He was a Vicar Choral at St. Paul’s Cathedral for 6 years, where he sang for many Royal and State services and the regular performances of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. John Passion. He was also a member of the choir of St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street and Temple Church. He went on to sing regularly with The Monteverdi Choir, The Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae, Le Concert d’Astree, The Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale Ghent/Herreweghe, The Dunedin Consort and the Choir of the Enlightenment, amongst many others (see Discography)
With Chamber Groups, memberships have included some exciting performances far and wide too:
The Musicke Companye (National Federation of Music Societies Tour of Britain, Purcell Ode’s, Handel and Caldara Cantatas in The Wigmore Hall, Italian Baroque Music at Bishop Auckland Early Music Festival), The New London Consort (Purcell Verse anthems & Odes, Bach St. John Passion, Mass in B minor, Purcell’s Fairy Queen in Cite de la Musique, Bridgewater Hall, QEH, Palau de la Musica), The London Bach Singers (Handel’s Messiah, Bach Passions, Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas and Mass in B minor at Kings Place, London), The Binchois Consort (US Tour, Amuz Festival, Antwerp, Hereford Festival, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, see also Discography)
On Stage, Tim has sung the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo (with Peter Holman, and Emily van Evera), ‘Didymus’ in Handel’s Theodora (Dartington Summer School), Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and Handel’s Acis & Galatea (Hogwood) at ROH, cover of ‘Creonte’ in Steffani’s Niobe (Hengelbrock) at ROH, ‘Mopsa’ and ensemble in Purcell’s Fairy Queen and King Arthur (New London Consort and Armonico Touring Opera). Alongside this experience Tim undertook 4 years of acting coaching with Peter Bishop
Tim Studied up to the highest Grades on Piano, Violoncello and Organ – he was a Violoncellist in The Essex Youth Orchestra, and Parish Organist for his father – he even studied the viol for a couple of years with the expert guidance of Alison Crum. He gained a BA Hons degree at Colchester Institute School of Music, going on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Charles Brett and extensively with Robert Spencer, particularly in events to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the death of Henry Purcell. He is currently a Lay Clerk in the choir of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
EVENTS
Consalvi Concert
Capella Fede/Peter Leech
Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome, Italy
Wednesday 24th January, 2024 at 7:30pm
Tim's Discs
Vocal Tuition has been at the forefront of my singing career since I began more than 25 years ago.
I am constantly encouraged and inspired to see the developments my pupils make on their vocal journey, whatever age and capacity, striving to release the potential in their individual singing abilities. This has continually informed the way I have approached my own vocal technique and how to enhance it throughout my career. As developments and experience in my teaching have increased, my approach has become more holistic, with the understanding and realisation that a pupil’s journey through the improvement of their technique, will happen with more effective results if we look at the connection with life experiences and how we all approach them.
My pupils have varied in age and experience over the years. I have taught young choristers alongside children in secondary school studying for Grade Exams and building on their technique, most particularly at Eton College where I have been teaching for 7 years. As a member of the vocal faculties at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and Royal Holloway University, I have taken many exciting journeys with students preparing to embark on professional careers. Some of those students and others who are fully fledged professional singers, have had lessons to build further on what they already know, fine-tuning and honing their comprehensive skills. This fine-tuning has also applied to many other private students I teach, who sing in Choral Societies or Chamber Choirs, or simply for the sheer enjoyment of knowing that through regular lessons with me, they will be able to feel more at one with their own vocal technique, developing it and themselves as a source of well-being, often with the possibilities of performing on the concert platform.
Educational Establishments where I have taught
Private Teacher of Voice, Piano & Theory of Music - Current
St. John’s College, Cambridge Choral Scholars
Eton College Voice, Accompanist - Current
Royal Holloway University Voice - Current
Professor of Singing,
Member of Historical Performance Faculty,
Director of The Early Music Vocal Ensemble
Charterhouse School Voice.
Wimbledon High School for Girls
Voice & Director of Chamber Choir
St. George’s School, Windsor Castle
Voice & Piano, Vocal coach to the Choristers
Brigidine School for Girls, Windsor
Voice & Piano, Choir director
St. Andrew’s School, Pangbourne Voice and Piano
Elstree School, Woolhampton Voice and Piano
Music Transposition and Transcription
I have been transposing and transcribing vocal scores ever since my University days, initially by hand but for many years now using the Sibelius music writing programme. I regularly transpose songs for my own pupils to help them sing at a pitch which brings out the true colours of their voices and often do the same for colleagues far and wide.
Please CONTACT ME direct with an enquiry.
Testimonials
“Tim is an excellent and inspirational teacher. He gave me a solid grounding in the all-important core elements of vocal technique that took me from being an undisciplined cabaret singer to scholarship offers at conservatoires. He is unfailingly patient, kind, and generous (almost to a fault) with his time. Tim’s wide experience in the baroque repertoire means he is also an expert collaborator and coach in this music, able to offer stylistically informed vocal teaching that is particularly useful for countertenors or anyone interested in early music. Above and beyond this, Tim is quite simply an excellent technician, who understands how voices - of any type - work and how to make them work better.”
Dominic
“ I have been having singing lessons with Tim for six years. He is a supportive and empathetic teacher and his lessons are well structured, with much emphasis on breath control and the complex physiology of voice production. Tim has introduced me to a broad range of music in a variety of different genres and languages, and he is always patient and encouraging. Under his tuition I have progressed in both vocal ability and confidence and have developed a lifelong joy of singing.”
Ann
"Tim's tuition and guidance on vocal technique has proved invaluable for me as a performer. Rigorous touring schedules with The King's Singers, including 140+ concerts each season, simply wouldn't have been possible without a solid technique which Tim helped me to develop. I will always be hugely grateful for his patience, clarity of approach and friendship over the years."
Tim Wayne-wright
“I consider myself exceptionally fortunate in finding and working with Tim as my singing teacher. He is undoubtedly the best technician I have ever been taught by, including my time at Oxford and the RCM; his understanding of the voice, ability to spot, analyse and find appropriate solutions for technical issues is unparalleled. His technical expertise has revolutionised my singing, but not only is he a consummate technician, he is also a superb musician. It is never possible to get away with poor phrasing or indifferent musicality - Tim's own natural musicianship shines through in his teaching; these, in combination with his passion and enthusiasm for enabling others to grow and succeed as singers is a rare and precious gift. I am incredibly grateful to have benefitted from his inspirational teaching.”
Philip
SOLO REPERTOIRE
J.S.BACH
Magnificat
Guilford Philharmonic Orchestra/Kraemer, Colchester Choral Society,
Cheltenham Bach Choir/Brian Kay, St. Alban’s Bach Choir/Lucas,
The English Concert/Cummings
Christmas Oratorio
Tel Aviv & Israel Chamber Orchestra/Kraemer,
Wells Oratorio Society, The London Bach Singers/Feinstein
Mass in B minor
Thomas Tallis Society, Colchester Choral Society,
Hadleigh Choral Society, The English Concert/Cummings,
The London Bach Singers/Feinstein,
St John Passion
The Sixteen/Christophers (Porto), Ealing Choral Society (Cadogan Hall),
The Parley of Instruments/Peter Holman, The Dunedin Consort (Edinburgh)
Colchester Bach Choir, Charivari Agreable (Merton College Oxford),
The London Mozart Players/John Scott, City of London Sinfonia/Carwood,
St Matthew Passion
The Dunedin Consort (Edinburgh), The London Bach Singers/Feinstein,
The Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner (Cadogan Hall & European Tour)
Tim has performed many of Bach’s Cantatas, notably with
The Dunedin Consort, St. Alban’s Bach Choir,
Bach Collegium Japan and The London Bach Singers.
HENRY PURCELL
Bonduca
The OAE
Hail bright Cecilia
Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh
(Aldeburgh, La Chaise Dieu and
Wroclaw Festival)
Come ye Sons of Art
Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh (France),
Cheltenham Bach Choir/Brian Kay,
The Parley of Instruments/Holman,
Temple Players
Dido & Aeneas
The OAE
Royal Opera House/Hogwood
European Voices/Egarr,
The Parley of Instruments/Holman
Fairy Queen & King Arthur
The New London Consort (European Tour)
Armonico Touring Opera (UK Tour)
Timon of Athens & Dioclesian
The New London Consort
(Rotterdam, Bridgewater Hall)
Verse Anthems & Odes
The New London Consort
(Spanish Cathedrals Tour)
The Parley of Instruments/Holman
VIVALDI
Dixit Dominus
The New London Consort
(Spanish Cathedrals Tour)
Gloria
Witham Choral Society,
Colchester Choral Society
Nisi Dominus
Colchester Choral Society,
The Parley of Instruments/Holman
Salve Regina
The Parley of Instruments/Holman
Stabat Mater
English Philarmonia
HANDEL
Belshazzar
Hannover Hofkapelle (Ewersburg, Germany)
The Choice of Hercules, Esther
The Parley of Instruments/Holman
Dettingham Te Deum
Cheltenham Bach Choir/Brian Kay
Dixit Dominus
The English Concert/Nigel Short,
London Handel Festival Orchestra
Israel in Egypt
Fishguard Festival Orchestra,
Dorking Festival/Brian Kay,
Thomas Tallis Society,
Colchester Choral Society
Jephtha
Thomas Tallis Society
Judas Maccabeus
London Handel Festival Orchestra/Cummings,
Norwegian Baroque Orchestra
Messiah
The Dunedin Consort (La Chaise Dieu Festival),
Guildford Philharmonic, Wells Oratorio Society
London Mozart Players, Fiori Musicali/Rapson,
L’Arco (Molde, Norway), City of London Sinfonia,
Armagh City Choir, Holmfirth Choral Society,
Fishguard Festival Orchestra,
Aldeburgh Music Club (Snape Maltings),
Colchester Choral Society,
Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne
London Handel Festival Orchestra,
The Musical & Amicable Society,
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,
The Parley of Instruments/Holman
Saul (David)
The Dunedin Consort
Samson (Micah)
Colchester Choral Society,
Coventry Philharmonic Choir
Solomon
St. Alban’s Bach Choir/Lucas
CPE Bach ‘Magnificat’
Tring Choral Society
A.Bononcini ‘Stabat Mater’
Colchester Choral Society
Bernstein ‘Chichester Psalms’
Colchester Choral Society, Cheltenham Bach Choir,
The London Bach Choir/Hill, Hertford Choral Society
‘Choruses from the ‘Lark’
Colchester Choral Society
John Blow ’Ode on the death of Henry Purcell’
Stour Music Festival with Michael Chance
Britten 'Canticles'
St. Paul’s Cathedral/Mark Williams
Grandi Arias and Motets
La Nuova Musica
Monteverdi 'Vespers'
Larvik Baroque Soloists (Norway),
La Nuova Musica (Wigmore Hall),
Coventry Philharmonic Choir,
Cheltenham Bach Choir, The OAE (European Tour),
Pepusch 'Magnificat'
London Handel Festival Orchestra
Pergolesi 'Magnificat'
Colchester Choral Society
Ridout 'Canticle of Joy'
Hadleigh Choral Society
Leith Hill Music Festival
Steffani 'Niobe'
(Cover of Creonte, ROH)
Telemann Cantata Du aber Daniel
The Feinstein Ensemble
William Boyce ‘David’s Lament’
Draghi ‘Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day’
Lully ‘Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme’
Schütz ‘Resurrection & Christmas Story’
All with The Parley of Instruments/Holman