Trevor Barr Village Voices Musical Director January 2018 to July 2022
It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden death of our beloved musical director, Trevor Barr following a massive heart attack on Wednesday 20th July 2022.
It has come as a terrible shock to the choir. Trevor was a wonderfully talented pianist, organist and choirmaster having studied at Keele University where he was the University Organ Scholar. We have been so lucky that he elected to express those talents with Village Voices for the last 5 years.
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His music touched so many lives and endeared him to so many people, not just Village Voices. He had a unique ability to teach and work with musicians and choristers of all ages and talents, from the complete novice to accomplished performers. Through humour and gentle persuasion, he encouraged them to perform to the very best of their ability.
Trevor had a unique style all his own: unconventional, irreverent at times, stubborn, demanding, yet also loving, considerate and empathetic all rolled into one. Choir rehearsals under his leadership were a joy. He had an endless supply of jokes and anecdotes, and we would always leave rehearsals on a high.
As an inspiring MD he took the choir to new heights. Under his musical guidance we performed many uplifting concerts, with a varied repertoire of popular and classical music. In 2019, before covid, he was very proud to take the choir to his hometown of Londonderry where we spent a wonderful weekend of singing and sightseeing.
Trevor lived a full life and made no allowance for a heart problem that had troubled him for many years. Whether it be recently sitting his master’s degree, learning to speak Spanish, working with new choirs, or standing as a candidate in local County Council elections, Trevor approached all his varied activities with enthusiasm and flair.
Trevor didn’t dwell on tragedy. His philosophy was “life goes on”, and the choir will move on as he would wish us to do. In the meantime, we offer our love and condolences to Trevor’s widow, Julie, father George, sisters Ruth and Gill and his wider family.
So farewell, dear friend, you have left us far too soon and we will miss you. We will miss your genial rehearsals, the jokes, the anecdotes, the post-concert drinks at your house, but most of all we will miss your music.
Bless you, Trevor. Rest in peace dear friend, unless you’ve found an organ and, even now, are performing with a choir of heavenly hosts. In which case play well and play loud before serving the Pimm’s and lemonade and a trayful of nibbles.
Thank you, dear friend, for all you have done for Village Voices.
The text only tribute to Trevor can be accessed here.
Trevor Barr was born and brought up in Londonderry in Northern Ireland. He studied at Keele University where he was the University Organ Scholar and read Music and American Studies.
After a further period of postgraduate study, Trevor began to teach, firstly in Bristol at the famous Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital and then at Warwick School, where he served as Director of Music for 16 years. He retired in 2017 as Director of Music at Perrott Hill, a rural Prep School in South Somerset.
When it came to conducting, Trevor loved nothing more than working with choirs and was the Musical Director of Village Voices from January 2018 to July 2022.
We have added a number of YouTube links of Trevor performing short organ pieces. They can be found at Village Voices Playlist.
In 2020 Trevor founded The Queen’s Singers, inspired and influenced by the success of The King’s Singers and by Schola Cantorum from the Cathedral in Bogota, Columbia. Under his artistic direction, they held their inaugural concert in Warwick on 27th June 2021.