Paul Ayres and Jozef Janik
Our musical director and conductor Paul Ayres is a local chap - he was born in Perivale, and grew up in Northolt and Ruislip. Since graduating from Oxford University, he has worked freelance as a choral conductor, keyboard player and composer.
In addition to working as Questors Choir's musical director, he conducts City Chorus and the student choir at London College of Music (based at the University of West London). Paul is the accompanist of Concordia Voices and of Harrow Choral Society, and associate accompanist of Crouch End Festival Chorus. He has led many music education workshops for children, and played piano for improvised comedy shows and musical theatre.
Paul's music is widely performed and published, and his works have been awarded, or shortlisted for, composition prizes in Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. He has received over one hundred commissions for new works, and he particularly enjoys "re-composing" classical works (Purcell, Bach, Handel, Fauré) and "classicising" pop music (jazz and show tunes, The Beatles, Happy Hardcore).
Please see www.paulayres.co.uk for more information.
Jozef Janik, our accompanist
Jozef grew up in Slovakia and moved to London in 2000 to attend the Royal Academy of Music taking a Post Grad. and a Masters in piano and studying with Patsy Toh and Graeme Humphrey.
He is sought after as a soloist, an accompanist, and an educator. Jozef works with a wide range of musicians and span both Classical and Jazz idioms; hence you can see him conducting Vivaldi’s Gloria one day and playing jazz at The Vortex the very next day.
Jozef lives in Ealing and performs locally (at the Ealing Half Marathon or Ealing jazz festival). Highlights from the past few years include venues such as The Blue Note Jazz Club and the Royal Festival Hall.
He also organises concerts and workshops as he loves being an educator. Jozef currently teaches students at Ealing Junior Music School, Notting Hill and Ealing High School and St. Benedict’s School.
Jozef has given concerts in Austria, Sweden, France, Japan, Tunisia and Norwich, and hase performed piano concertos by Mozart, Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Schumann and Bach.
Jozef's upcoming concerts and projects include Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin – a feast for your ears AND eyes!
Non-musical interests include playing chess, watching TED talks and go-karting with his 8 year old son.
