Our leader for tonight’s concert is a true renaissance man. When we chatted for this article I was already aware of his musical and scientific talents but there is more to this man than meets the eye, in fact you could say that he has more than one string to his bow.
Tim comes from an academic family where music also played a part. While his academic studies took him from a public school scholarship to Cambridge University and beyond, his progress with violin at school was modest.
Even so he clearly had some very positive musical experiences and enjoyed playing in the School orchestra where he notes a memorable performance of the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, and he subsequently joined Emmanuel College’s Orchestra.
He has always been a keen sportsman too, and throughout his school and university career has played volleyball, reaching National League level, and represented his College rowing.
Tim’s natural science studies took him onwards to a PhD in Chemistry at Cambridge, and then over the pond for postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School where he continued playing in his spare time. In 1991 he returned to the UK, taking up a post at Southampton University as a Chemistry Lecturer. In 1999 he was invited to apply for the role of Chair of Biological Chemistry at Warwick. Last year Tim was presented with the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry’s Interdisciplinary award and continues to head up some of the vital research work that keeps Warwick University at the forefront of scientific development.
When he first came to Warwick Tim was still playing National League volleyball and had been a top level coach but decided now was the time to take his violin out of its case, having not played for over 12 years. He and his father, a good pianist, played through lots of repertoire together which meant his playing moved on apace. A baroque oboist in the department introduced Tim to the Warwickshire Baroque (orchestra) and he joined the Stratford Symphony Orchestra soon after, having played with us since 2001. He leads both groups (playing a baroque violin with gut strings with Warwickshire Baroque) although it does sometimes pose logistical issues as both rehearse on Friday evenings!