| Martin Bird - Editor of
'Elgar's Kingdom' |
Martin discovered Elgar in the days when he always featured in the list
of A-level Music set works. He was thus introduced to the glories of The Dream of Gerontius -
not a bad starter! He's studied, performed and enjoyed Elgar ever since, not least when he
was really supposed to be working for a living in the computer department of a major airline
He eventually upset his bosses sufficiently to be given very early retirement, since when he
has been studying, performing and enjoying Elgar even more, while working as a freelance
computer consultant (web sites a speciality!).
| Ern Blamires - Editor of
'Japes and Larks' |
Although born in one of the loveliest towns in England, Ern emigrated to Australia at a
tender
age, since when he has pursued a dynamic career in the communications industry. He retains
a
fondness for all things associated with his country of birth - cricket, rugby league, Elgar - and
remains fluently bilingual. For his party piece, he can turn on an accent that would persuade
most
of the residents of one of the loveliest towns in England that he still lived in God's own
country.
| Robert Gilbert - Editor
of 'You Wrote ...' |
Robert hails from farming stock in Lincolnshire, England. He attended Stamford School, in
common with other musical luminaries such as Michael Tippett and Malcolm Sargent, where
he
acquired a rudimentary yet envious musical education. His first experiences with Elgar's music
came with playing the cymbals in the School Orchestra in Op. 39 No. 1, and singing in a local
performance of 'The Music Makers'. He joined the Elgar Society in the early 90s and somehow
became embroiled in the well being of the Society Web Site.
Other interests include National Hunt horse racing, facilitated by his residence in
Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire (the home of National Hunt racing in the UK), and computers. Employment
within the computer industry has (to date) proved sufficient to finance his dissolute life
style.
| Dominic Guyver - Editor
of 'You Asked ...' |
Dominic Guyver has been an Elgar enthusiast since the age of twelve when a recording of
the "Enigma" Variations and a snippet of the famous Ken Russell film of the composer
simultaneously captured his imagination. Since then he's spent very many happy hours listening
to Elgar's music at concerts and at home, reading about his life and music and carrying out his
own explorations of the places Elgar knew and loved. He now works at the University of
Birmingham where Elgar was the first Professor of Music, and spends a lot of his spare time
attempting to play Elgar pieces on the piano.
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