CEFC accompanists

Peter Jaekel, Principal Accompanist

Born in Gloucester, Peter Jaekel entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1985 where he studied piano accompaniment with Geoffrey Pratley and David Willison, and organ with John Scott. For seven years he was chapel organist at Bradfield College, Berkshire.

Since 1997, he has been a freelance organist and piano accompanist. He is a deputy accompanist to the London Symphony Chorus, where he has worked with some of the world’s finest conductors, including Sir Colin Davis, Daniel Harding and Yan Pascal Tortelier. He is repetiteur to North Herts Guild of Singers, accompanist to Hertford Choral Society, and regularly plays for other choirs in the South-east including Brighton Festival Chorus. He has been organist of St Paul’s, Knightsbridge since 2000 and performs as pianist with the Ben Sanders Scottish Country Dance Band throughout Britain and abroad.

Peter is in huge demand as a piano accompanist, most recently accompanying the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the saxophonist John Harle. He is also much sought after as a vocal coach for contemporary music; recent repertoire includes operas by Sir Michael Tippett, Jonathan Dove, Stephen McNeff and Tansy Davies. He is principal repetiteur for Eastern Opera and has also worked for European Chamber Opera.

Recent engagements have included performances of Handel Organ Concerti and the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony, and he has appeared at the Swaledale, Ryedale, Brighton and Deal Festivals. His work has taken him to France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Norway, Hong Kong and New York. Future plans include tours of Spain, Belgium and Holland.

Paul Ayres, Associate Accompanist

Paul Ayres was born in London and studied music at Oxford University. He works freelance as a composer and arranger, choral conductor and musical director, and organist and accompanist. He was accompanist of Harlow Chorus for 11 years, and now conducts the Walbrook Singers, National Westminster City Chorus and the London College of Music Chamber Choir.

Paul’s compositions usually involve words – solo songs, choral pieces, and music for theatre productions – and he is particularly interested in working with pre-existing music, from arrangements of folksongs, hymns, jazz standards and nursery rhymes to ‘re-compositions’ of classical works, as in Purcell’s Funeral Sentence, 4A Wreck and Messyah. His work has been commissioned by many performing groups, including the BBC Singers, Texas Lutheran University, Harrow Choral Society, Essex County Music Services, The Esoterics (Seattle) and the Air Concertante (Denmark).

Paul leads music education workshops for children, plays piano for improvised comedy shows and has given many solo organ recitals in the UK, Scandinavia, Europe, North America and Australia.