Marilyn Billingham

Marilyn’s interest in music stems from her childhood; she comes from a long line of Salvation Army bandsmen.  She graduated in sociology and philosophy from the University of East Anglia in 1971. This was followed by a Master’s degree in education from the University of Sheffield. At UEA she sang in the many choirs directed by Philip Ledger and at Aldeburgh in the then Aldeburgh Festival Choir and the Aldeburgh Festival Singers directed by Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst. This formed the basis of singing in a wide range of choirs and vocal ensembles throughout her adult life.  On leaving full time work as an FE lecturer she took a further ‘first’ degree in music and English at the University of Chichester and is now a PhD student in the Music Department at the University of Bristol. Her thesis is an examination of how far Gustav Holst’s pioneering initiatives, as director of Music at Morley College for Working Men and Women, St Paul’s Girls’ School and elsewhere can be seen as a musical realisation of the Arts and Crafts movement. In 2023 Marilyn was awarded first prize in the Royal Music Association Research Chronicle competition for best submitted paper at the RMA annual Research Student Conference. Further presentations of her work have included lectures at Chichester and Portsmouth Cathedrals.