Tim started singing in church choirs in East Anglia at an early age and was Head Chorister at All Saints, Hartford.  This choir joined others on a regular basis and Tim sang in both Ely Cathedral and Kings College Chapel under Sir David Willcocks and on Songs of Praise.  Tim sang as a tenor with St Ives Choral Society but, upon leaving to go to Portsmouth Polytechnic to study engineering, singing somehow became side-lined for over 20 years.  In 1997 however Tim joined St Peters School Choir and was “persuaded” by his co-tenor, the Philomusica Chairman, to join us.  Tim now runs a carpentry business, based at Prinknash Abbey, making church and domestic furniture and joinery. Tim says “Because of the lack of neighbours there, I have been known to practice during working hours in an attempt to catch up on the lost singing years”.  Tim’s business goes from strength to strength including a commission from St Matthew’s, Northampton, a church famous for its commissions, which is now able to boast works by Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland and Tim Jeffree.

Phil started singing with the church choir in his home town of Penarth in Wales, where he was head chorister until the age of fourteen. Since that time he has been a passionate opera fan and has seen every production mounted by Welsh National Opera over the past forty years. Although apparently 'always singing' he only sang again in public ten years ago when a new choir was started at his children's school Hanley Castle in Worcestershire. Since joining Philo seven years ago he has benefited from singing a wide range of music and now sings most things from show songs through to opera. Phil also sings with Belcanto Opera and 'One over the Eight' a group of soloists and accompanist who 'sing for their supper' performing a mixed repertoire, often for charities.

John Quinn was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Initially his chief musical interest lay in playing the bassoon in various orchestras.  He took up singing seriously when he joined Philomusica on moving to Gloucestershire in 1987. He now receives singing tuition from Linda Parsons and at the beginning of 1999 was fortunate enough to be chosen to take part in a master class conducted by the distinguished tenor, John Mitchinson. Recent solo engagements have included Haydn's Creation, Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Magnificat, The Crucifixion by Stainer and Elgar’s The Light of Life. In addition to singing with the Society, John is a member of a vocal quartet, The Songbards, with three other Philomusica soloists.

Robert lives in Broadway, Worcestershire.  His musical upbringing was with the Staffordshire County Youth Orchestra as a trumpet player, which he claims greatly helped his sight-reading when he came to singing almost thirty years later!  Since joining Philomusica in 2004 he has sung the baritone roles in both the Duruflé and Fauré Requiems, and in Elgar's "The Light of Life" (2007).  He was also chosen to take part in a masterclass with Roderick Williams in 2006.  Robert currently studies singing with Linda Parsons, and he is developing his love of English music, Vaughan Williams in particular.  Robert is also a member of the Evesham madrigal group, Musyck Anon, which performs chiefly 16^th – 17^th century music in many local venues, frequently in period costume.  When not singing, Robert spends his professional time training actuaries with a small education company based in Abingdon. 

David originates from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and has performed in many venues in and around the Three Counties including Gloucester Cathedral, Worcester Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey, Cheltenham Town Hall and Pershore Abbey. He has a large repertoire ranging from the Bach Passions to Vaughan Williams although his particular love is the music of Sir Edward Elgar. He began his vocal studies with David Backhouse, whilst still at school, and continued with Barry Faber at the Cheltenham Music Centre.  He is currently studying with John Mitchinson and has fortunate enough to take part in a number of  Masterclasses, one with the famous British soprano, Rae Woodland, Sarah Walker and Roderick Williams. His repertoire include Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony and The Five Mystical Songs, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's The Creation, the parts of Judas and Jesus in Elgar's The Apostles & Peter in Elgar's The Kingdom and many other works. As well as singing with Philomusica David is a member of the quartet, The Songbards and the vocal ensemble One over the Eight.

Derek has sung in choirs throughout his life. He went to Brentwood School, Essex where there was a strong musical tradition. He sang as a soloist in the chapel choir which had the honour of singing several services at St Paul’s when the Cathedral choir was on tour; he has also sung at St Albans and Canterbury. The school choir also sang with the town choral society.  While at London University he sang with the Royal College of Music mixed choir. He has been a member of several societies and joined Philomusica some eight years ago. His other musical interest is making and playing brass instruments. Recently he has taken a deeper interest in the valveless natural or "Baroque trumpet", The trumpet he plays is one he constructed himself from brass sheet using traditional methods. It is a replica of an instrument by Hanns Hainlein from 1632 - the original is in the Munchener Stadtmuseum.