Vice President Alan Simmons - Music Publisher

• Alan Simmons taught music in secondary schools for twenty years then became Music Adviser to Kirklees MC for a further ten. He now works as a full time composer, specialising in music for schools and choral music, often leading workshops for adults and children.
• Bringing together children and adults in music, especially singing, has been a permanent goal in Alan’s work. His large-scale choral music work The Beauchamp Gloria is a good example, because the children play a key role in the piece. They are on equal terms with the adult singers, not a small afterthought!
• Alan has also devoted a great deal of time and effort to encouraging boys to sing in choirs. For far too long singing for boys has lacked “street cred”. Starting in 1983 with his football piece, “Saturday Afternoon” he’s done a great deal of work to banish that notion!
• A new angle appeared in his work recently. There is a real shortage of orchestral music specifically written for children. We still rely on Peter & The Wolf or Carnival of the Animals, but there was little new until Stoke on Trent City Music School commissioned Alan to write a piece for their staff orchestra. The result is “The Bad Baron and the Ballerina” which not only entertains and informs the children, but involves them in the music too, both as singers and percussionists.
• Outside education he has been musical director or chorusmaster for several performers, including Cleo Laine, Howard Keel and Roger Whittaker. His own singing group, The Mastersingers, have performed regularly on BBC radio and television.
• One of the zanier aspects of Alan's work could be heard on BBC Radio 2 in November 2007 when the Jeremy Vine Show commissioned him to write a new verse for the National Anthem, to replace the controversial one that talked about "crushing the Scots"!

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