ASHLEY THOMPSON
Ashley Thompson, our current MD, is a busy choral director, accompanist and organist who trained as a Choral Scholar at Chelmsford Cathedral under Peter Nardone. He has since acted as Director of Music to St James the Great Colchester, Holy Trinity Rayleigh and Stock Music Society Choir.
In 2011, he founded the Triple H Community Choir to serve the local South Essex villages of Hockley, Hawkwell and Hullbridge, a group he still directs to this day. Ashley is currently Director of Music additionally to Adams Elm Choir in Leigh-on-Sea, Witham Choral Society, Maldon Choral Society and Anglia Singers in Chelmsford.
Ashley has conducted Choral works including: Britten Ceremony of Carols, Elgar Spirit of England, Mozart Requiem and Missa Brevis in D, Faure Requiem, Stainer Crucixion, Maunder Olivet to Calvary, Vivaldi Gloria, Stanford Last Post and Six Irish Folksongs, Rutter Sprig of Thyme, Durufle Requiem, Ravel Trois Chansons, Poulenc Quatre Motets Pour Le Temps De Noel, Chilcott Christmas Oratorio, Handel Four Coronation Anthems, Mendelssohn Elijah, Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs and Arthur Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, Trial by Jury, HMS Pinafore and The Gondoliers.
A Dip ABRSM qualified choral director and ALCM qualified piano accompanist, Ashley's high-profile egagements have included conducting at Wakefield Catherdral, Her Majesty's Theatre Haymarket, and the O2.
Away from music, Ashley was narrowly elected to Chelmsford City Council in May 2023, by a majority of just 15 votes in Moulsham Lodge Ward, and he also serves as Vice Chair to the Council's Overview and Scruciny Committee.