List of Cornish musicians
Encyclopedia
Composers and classical musicians
See also Organists of Truro Cathedral- Malcolm ArnoldMalcolm ArnoldSir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
, composer (by adoption) - William BealeWilliam BealeWilliam Beale was an English composer and baritone.Beale was born in Landrake, Cornwall. He first served as a chorister at Westminster Abbey under Dr. Arnold until his voice broke. He then served as a midshipman on HMS Révolutionnaire from 1799 to 1801...
, composer and singer - Philip CannonPhilip Cannon-Brief biography: Philip Cannon is a Cornish composer of Anglo-Burgundian descent. As a youth he studied at Dartington with Imogen Holst and later at the Royal College of Music with Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams. He scored his first success with his symphonic study Spring which received...
, composer - Cornelius CardewCornelius CardewCornelius Cardew was an English experimental music composer, and founder of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected the avant-garde in favour of a politically motivated "people's liberation music".-Biography:Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire...
, composer - Ralph DunstanRalph DunstanRalph Dunstan Mus. Doc. Cantab was born at Carnon Downs in the parish of Feock, Cornwall and is buried at Perranzabuloe. He is honoured now as one of the greatest song collectors in the Cornish musical tradition....
, composer and musicologist - Wendy Eathorne, singer
- Joseph Antonio EmidyJoseph Antonio EmidyJoseph Antonio Emidy was a West African born slave in early life, but later became a famous and celebrated violinist and composer in Cornwall.-Life:...
, violinist and composer - Alfred John ElloryAlfred John ElloryAlfred John Ellory or Jack Ellory was a British musician best known for playing flute on several of the James Bond films in the 1960s...
leading British flautistFlautistA flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
who played on the Beatles song The Fool on the HillThe Fool on the Hill"The Fool on the Hill" is a song by The Beatles. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and recorded in 1967...
. - Janet Elston
- Giles FarnabyGiles FarnabyGiles Farnaby was an English composer and virginalist of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.-Life:Giles Farnaby was born about 1563, perhaps in Truro, Cornwall, England or near London. His father, Thomas, was a Cittizen and Joyner of London, and Giles may have been related to Thomas Farnaby , the...
, composer (alleged) - Graham FitkinGraham FitkinGraham Fitkin is a British composer, pianist and conductor. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist and postminimalist genres...
, composer - David Hockings, principal percussionst of the BBC SO; Head of percussion at the Royal College of Music.
- Derek HolmanDerek HolmanDerek Holman, CM is a choral conductor, organist, and composer.Holman attended the Royal Academy of Music from 1948 to 1952 and studied with Sir William McKie, Eric Thiman, and York Bowen...
, composer, conductor and choirmaster - Charles Benjamin Incledon, singer
- Richard JoseRichard JoseRichard J. Jose was an American countertenor.-Life:He immigrated to Nevada after his uncle.He sang in saloons for charity, and in 1881 with Thatcher's Minstrels....
, singer - Edgar S. Kessell MBE (1910–1981), choirmaster, founder of the Holman Climax Male Voice ChoirHolman Climax Male Voice ChoirHolman Climax Male Voice Choir formed in 1940 and based in Camborne, Cornwall was originally known as Climax Male Voice Choir added the name Holman to its title during the late 1960s after the two companies of Holman's and Climax joined together....
, TrevervaTrevervaTreverva is a small village at the west of the civil parish of Mabe in Cornwall, England, UK.It lies on the road between Mabe village and Constantine village, immediately west of Lamanva...
Male Voice Choir and MabeMabe, CornwallMabe is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated one mile west of Penryn....
Ladies Choir - George LloydGeorge Lloyd (composer)George Walter Selwyn Lloyd was a British composer.-Early life:Of Cornish ancestry, Lloyd grew up in a family with great enthusiasm for music. He was mainly home-schooled because of rheumatic fever. He later studied violin with Albert Sammons and composition with Harry Farjeon. He was a student at...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media... - Benjamin LuxonBenjamin LuxonBenjamin Matthew Luxon CBE is a retired British baritone.-Biography:He studied with Walter Grünner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and established an international reputation as a singer when he won a third prize at the 1961 ARD International Music Competition in Munich...
, singer - Moura LympanyMoura LympanyDame Moura Lympany DBE was an English concert pianist.She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother originally taught her the piano...
, pianist - Thomas Merritt, composer
- Alan OpieAlan OpieAlan Opie is a Cornish baritone, primarily known as an opera singer.He attended Truro School and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the London Opera Centre before joining the Sadler's Wells Opera...
, singer - Kenneth Pelmear, composer of Hail to the HomelandHail to the HomelandHail to the Homeland is one of the unofficial anthems of Cornwall. It was composed by the Cornish musician Kenneth Pelmear who composed and arranged many works for church and male voice choirs and brass bands...
- Dudley SavageDudley SavageWilliam Dudley Savage MBE was a British organist and broadcaster who for many years broadcast a hospital request programme from the Royal cinema in Plymouth. He both introduced and played requests on the Royal organ...
, organist - Edmund SeddingEdmund Sedding-Biography:Sedding, son of Richard and Peninnah Sedding of Summerstown, near Okehampton, Devon, was born on 20 June 1836: John Dando Sedding was his younger brother. He early displayed antiquarian tastes, which led to his visiting cathedrals, abbeys, and churches in England and France...
, architect and musician, resident at Penzance - George Thalben-BallGeorge Thalben-BallSir George Thomas Thalben-Ball CBE was an organist and composer who, though originally from Australia, spent most of his life in Britain....
, organist - Michael TippettMichael TippettSir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
, composer - Thomas TomkinsThomas TomkinsThomas Tomkins was an English composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English madrigal school, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort music, and the last member of the English virginalist school.-Life:Tomkins was born...
, composer - Henry C Tonkin, organist
- John Treleaven, singer
- Stephen VarcoeStephen VarcoeStephen Varcoe is an English classical bass-baritone singer, appearing internationally in opera and concert, known for Baroque and contemporary music and a notable singer of Lieder.- Professional career :...
, singer - Sir David WillcocksSir David WillcocksSir David Valentine Willcocks CBE MC is a British choral conductor, organist, and composer. His son, Jonathan Willcocks, is also a composer.- Biography :...
, choral conductor, organist, and composer, born at Newquay
Popular musicians
- Tori AmosTori AmosTori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
, American singer-songwriter: has her home and studio near BudeBudeBude is a small seaside resort town in North Cornwall, England, at the mouth of the River Neet . It lies just south of Flexbury, north of Widemouth Bay and west of Stratton and is located along the A3073 road off the A39. Bude is twinned with Ergué-Gabéric in Brittany, France... - Hilary ColemanHilary ColemanHilary Coleman is a Cornish musician, song-writer and promoter of Cornish culture. Active in music since the 1980s she is currently a member of the Cornish Folk Music group Dalla, which has issued four CD records. Among the instruments she plays is the clarinet. She is a Director of Cumpas Ltd...
, of DallaDallaDalla is a dance band in Cornwall known for providing music for Noze looan dances.Members play the clarinet, bouzouki, fiddle, guitar, accordion and percussion. They sing in both Cornish and English....
and CumpasCumpas Ltd.For the city in Sonora, Mexico, see: CumpasCumpas Ltd. is a registered charity which promotes Cornish music and dance. It was founded in 1996 by Hilary Coleman and Frances Bennett. Its original name was Cornish Music Projects. Cumpas is a Cornish word meaning shipshape or proper job.It promotes... - Kevin Downing, drummer for 1990s indie band The Family CatThe Family CatThe Family Cat were a British independent band, formed in Stoke Newington, London in 1988. Three members were originally from Cornwall, one from Plymouth and one from Southampton.-Career:...
- The Hon. Louis EliotLouis EliotLouis Robert Eliot is an English singer, songwriter and former guitarist of the now defunct bands Kinky Machine and Rialto. In 2002, he released his first solo EP, Everybody Loves You When You're Dead, and in 2004, he released his first solo album, The Long Way Round...
, singer-songwriter - Fisherman's FriendsFisherman's FriendsFisherman's Friends are a 10-strong singing group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties a cappella. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010.-Biography:...
, a capella group - Mick FleetwoodMick FleetwoodMichael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
, drummerDrummerA drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
in Fleetwood MacFleetwood MacFleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood... - Bruce FoxtonBruce FoxtonBruce Foxton is an English rock and roll musician who is best known as the bass player in punk rock bands The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers.-Biography:...
, bass player in The JamThe JamThe Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped... - Jon FuglerJon FuglerJon Fugler is an English electronic musician and one of the co-founders of the electronic music group Fluke along with Mike Bryant and Mike Tournier...
, electronic musician - Al HodgeAl Hodge (rock musician)For the actor Al Hodge of Captain Video and Green Hornet fame, see Al Hodge).Al Hodge was a guitarist and songwriter, who has had success with "Rock N Roll Mercenaries", a song that was recorded by Meat Loaf and John Parr in 1986...
, rock musician and songwriter - Richard D. James (a.k.a. "Aphex Twin"), electronic musicElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
artist - Andy MackayAndy MackayAndrew "Andy" Mackay is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founder member of the art-rock group Roxy Music....
, musician and founder member of Roxy MusicRoxy MusicRoxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson... - Ralph McTellRalph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
, singer-songwriter - Tim McVay, guitarist for 1990s indie band The Family CatThe Family CatThe Family Cat were a British independent band, formed in Stoke Newington, London in 1988. Three members were originally from Cornwall, one from Plymouth and one from Southampton.-Career:...
- James MorrisonJames Morrison (singer)James Morrison is a BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Rugby, Warwickshire. In 2006, his debut single "You Give Me Something" became a hit in Europe, Australia, and Japan, peaking in the top five in the UK and New Zealand. His debut album, Undiscovered, debuted at the...
, singer-songwriter - Alex ParksAlex ParksAlex Parks is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for winning Fame Academy in 2003, for her singles, and for the albums, Introduction and Honesty.-Biography:...
, singer-songwriterSinger-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the... - Sir Tim RiceTim RiceSir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
, lyricist - Andrew RidgeleyAndrew RidgeleyAndrew John Ridgeley is an English former pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and environmentalist. Andrew was a member of the 1980s pop music duo Wham!.-Early life:...
, guitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and singer in WHAM!WHAM!Wham! were a short-lived British musical duo formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band.... - Roger TaylorRoger Meddows-TaylorRoger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...
, drummer in QueenQueen (band)Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor... - Luke VibertLuke VibertLuke Vibert is a British recording artist and producer known for his work in many subgenres of electronic music. Vibert began his musical career as a member of the Hate Brothers, only later branching out into his own compositions...
, electronic music artist - Keren WoodwardKeren WoodwardKeren Woodward is an English pop singer and songwriter of British girl group Bananarama, co-founded by her long time school friend Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey....
, singer-songwriter and composer BananaramaBananaramaBananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular... - Brenda WoottonBrenda WoottonBrenda Wootton was a Cornish poetess and folk singer and was seen as an ambassador for Cornish tradition and culture in all the Celtic nations and as far away as Australia and Canada....
, bardBardIn medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
and singer - Damian Rodd, Drummer/Bassist/Composer/Producer
- Tom MiddletonTom MiddletonTom Middleton is a prolific British recording artist, music producer, remixer and DJ.A classically trained pianist and cellist, Middleton worked in the early 1990s with Richard D. James , co-producing "En-Trance To Exit" on the Analogue Bubblebath EP for Exeter's influential Mighty Force Records...
, electronic musician