Michael has been director of music at the Parish church since 1978. For much of that time he was also head of music at St Mary’s High School, Cheshunt, and more recently has been associated with Chingford Foundation School. He is now involved with music at a variety of other primary and secondary schools.
He took over direction of the Chingford Singers in 1988 and founded Chingford Parish Church Girls’ Choir in 1992 with the aim of creating the same opportunities for girls as continue to be enjoyed by the boy choristers. More recently he formed a new Chamber Choir to enable girls who had reached the upper age limit to continue singing.
Michael has conducted concert performances of many major choral works, and large scale orchestral works with the Chingford Sinfonia. Under his direction the Chingford choirs have sung in all the major cathedrals in England and have undertaken trips to major venues abroad.
He holds the Fellowship and Choir Training diplomas of the Royal College of Organists.
Tom Cowhig PhD
Tom sang as a treble in the choir of Southwell Minster – Nottinghamshire’s cathedral - and then as a bass in St Andrew’s Rugby. Later, after moving to Essex, he joined the Chingford Parish Choir, where since 1980 he has been de facto (i.e. honorary and unofficial) assistant Choirmaster as well as singer. In that capacity he helps Mike Emerson in rehearsal, performance, and planning and organisation. (He is also a bad violinist making up numbers in the back of the seconds for the Grand Christmas Concert.)
Over the years he has performed in G&S style amateur operatics, in barbershop quartets and in a number of choral societies. He has also edited a number of unpublished baroque choral works from original manuscripts, and directed their first modern performances.
A physicist by first degree, in professional life he has been a lecturer and manager in various sorts of adult, further and higher education, and since retirement has completed a PhD in Mathematics. He is currently studying composition at Birkbeck.
