Iain gained a degree in music at Queens’ College, Cambridge, where he was Organ Scholar.  He subsequently studied piano, harpsichord and conducting and was appointed a Professor of Piano and subsequently became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.  A frequent performer and broadcaster, Iain is also a coach, pianist and conductor.  In 1983, he founded the Amersham Festival of Music and has been its Artistic Director ever since.  He established the Festival Chamber Orchestra in 1986 and has conducted them in a wide range of symphonic and operatic works, as well as playing and directing many of the major Mozart piano concertos.

Claire joined the Committee in 2022.  She holds a number of other Trustee roles and spent nearly 20 years working in procurement and leadership roles within a large multi-national corporation.

Although she has no personal musical abilities she is inspired by the creative arts and with 3 school aged children is particularly passionate about high quality arts and music being available locally for all to enjoy.

Nick joined the committee having retired from a varied career as a management consultant and business leader.  He has become the Treasurer and so takes care of the day to day finances of the society and is responsible for looking after the society’s reserves in consultation with the other Trustees.

Nick and his family have lived in Amersham for over 30 years and he sings with the South Bucks Choral Society.

Mary Ledingham was one of the original founders of the Festival in 1983 along with Iain, Richard Steele (Chairman) and Martin Berry (Treasurer).  She was the Festival's first administrator and returned to the post in 1995 when Tertia McCombie moved away from the area.

Mary read music at Southampton University and for several years was the organist of St Mary's, Amersham (the Festival's home).  She is now the organist of Chalfont St Peter Parish Church.

Hilary worked in the film and television industry for many years spending the last thirty years of her career at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield training future generations of film makers.
 

She is also a music and theatre lover and lives in Gerrards Cross

Lesley joined the committee in 2020.  She is a retired speech and language therapist, university lecturer
and author who specialised in the diagnosis and treatment of clinical voice disorders, including those of
singers.  She started to learn the piano after her retirement and continues to take ballet classes.

Christine joined the committee in 2019, having found a little more time in semi-retirement.  She has lived in Amersham for the past 10 years and is a keen concert-goer, enjoying an eclectic mix of live music. 

Gill started singing a couple of years ago, and loves being in South Bucks Choral Society.  She loves cooking, too, so she's very pleased to be helping the Festival in this way.  Her other favourite activities are gardening, walking, exploring London, and seeing her family.