People

Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

We are delighted that Gisela has been our 6th President since 2015 when she said “Politicians are often reluctant to admit that they enjoy music and singing. I look forward to continue working with Birmingham Bach Choir because music is important to our wellbeing and Birmingham has so much more to offer than those living here realise. This Choir has contributed to the region’s rich cultural tapestry for a hundred years.”
Gisela served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1997 - 2017 when she stood down from Parliament after 20 years of public service and was honoured with a Life Peerage . She now sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords 

Gisela was born and raised in Germany. After serving an apprenticeship in bookselling, she moved to Britain in 1974 in order to improve her English and worked in the university bookshop. She did course in Business Studies at Manchester Polytechnic. After setting up the London Book Fair she moved to the Midlands.

She graduated from the University of London in 1993 and for some years was a law lecturer at Worcester College of Technology. She began researching for a PhD in trust law at the University of Birmingham, but after a time, instead, went into politics full-time.

Gisela has had a distinguished career in politics. In 1997 she became the Member of Parliament for Birmingham, Edgbaston and, amongst other things, was Health Minister in the Blair government. She is now a Privy Councillor and served on the Committee, appointed by the Prime Minister, to oversee the Intelligence and Security Services. She edited the political weekly magazine The House. In 2017 she stood down from parliament after 20 years of public service.

Former Presidents:

Sir Wilfred Martineau
1950 - 1958

Stephen Lloyd
1958 - 1987

Denis Martineau
1987 - 2000

Jim Berrow
2000 - 2010

Pauline Round
2010 - 2015

Chairman Philip Bellshaw

Philip Bellshaw has been a keen amateur musician all of his life, playing the violin, piano and organ, singing in numerous choirs and conducting some as well. He joined the choir as a second bass in 2015 and has been its chairman since November 2018.

Paul Spicer, Conductor

Paul Spicer began his musical training as a chorister at New College, Oxford. He studied with Herbert Howells and Richard Popplewell (organ) at the Royal College of Music in London, winning the top organ award (the Walford Davies Prize) in his final year.

Paul is best known as a choral conductor partly through the fifteen CDs made with the Finzi Singers for Chandos records. He conducted Bach Choirs in Chester and Leicester before moving to conduct the Bach Choir in Birmingham in 1992. He has set up ground-breaking M.Mus courses for choral conductors at both the Royal College of Music and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he also directed both chamber choirs.

Paul Spicer is one of the UK’s most influential choral conductors. He came to prominence through his work with the Finzi Singers and their numerous recordings for Chandos Records. He conducts the Birmingham Bach Choir, and for twenty-two years until 2022 was conductor of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir with whom he made many acclaimed recordings. He has been the Festival Conductor for the Petersfield Festival for over twenty years. He was one of the first two people to create a post-graduate course in Choral Conducting, first at the Royal College of Music and later at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He also taught at Oxford University, and has been a regular guest conductor with the BBC Singers.

Paul was Senior Producer for BBC Radio 3 in the Midlands until 1990, leaving to become Artistic Director of the Lichfield Festival. He left that post in 2001 to devote himself to conducting, teaching, composing and writing. Major compositions include Easter and Advent Oratorios and a choral symphony ‘Unfinished Remembering’ commemorating the centenary of the start of World War 1. As an author he has written biographies of his composition teacher, Herbert Howells (Seren Books), and of Sir George Dyson (Boydell Press). His biography of Sir Arthur Bliss was published in 2023 attracting highly enthusiastic reviews, winning a Presto Music Award for Book of the Year, and an award from Association for Recorded Sound Collections Best Historical Research (USA) in 2024. He has also contributed chapters to books about the music of Herbert Howells, 21st Century Choral Music, Bliss and the Dance, and Stanford’s Partsongs. He is a Fellow of University College, Durham, Honorary Research Fellow of Birmingham University, Fellow of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Chairman of the Sir George Dyson Trust, Chairman of the Herbert Howells Society, Trustee of the Finzi Trust, and a lay member of the Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral.

On the lighter side, he has a Parson Russell Terrier called Allegro non Troppo (Troppo for short) which he enjoys exercising extensively. They both enjoy their food with equal relish!

Martyn Rawles is the organist and Assistant Director of Music at Lichfield Cathedral 

Martyn Rawles is the Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Lichfield Cathedral. He began his musical training as a chorister at St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, subsequently taking up the organ with Anthony Pinel. He held organ scholarships at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, Gloucester Cathedral, and Winchester College, and during this time gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists, winning the Durrant, Baker, Harding and Limpus prizes. In September 2007 he returned to Gloucester as Acting Assistant Director of Music, before moving to Lichfield the following year. Since 2009 he has directed Lichfield Cathedral’s Chamber Choir and accompanied the Birmingham Bach Choir. He was awarded a silver medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 2008. He is also President of the Lichfield and District Organists’ Association, Musical Director for the Royal School of Church Music’s Northern Cathedral Singers and Adult Residentiary Choir, and Secretary to the Association of Assistant Cathedral Organists.

Past Accompanists:

Nigel Argust

Michael Higgins
(Director of Music at St John's Wimbledon)

Darren Hogg

Rupert Jeffcoat

Alex Mason
(now Director of Music at Lancing College)

Stuart Nicholson
(now Organist at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin)

Robert Sharpe
(now Director of Music York Minster)