A first term completed for Exeter Cathedral School's new Director of Music

Exeter Cathedral School is delighted to introduce its new Director of Music, Mr Quinlivan-Brewer, who joined the School at the start of the autumn term. Mr Quinlivan-Brewer’s broad experience is well-suited to supporting the thriving Music Department at ECS.

Mr Quinlivan-Brewer was previously Head of Brass and a class music teacher at the prestigious Wellington College, Berkshire. Before that he was a Specialist Musician at Wells Cathedral School and is a graduate (Hons) of the Royal College of Music. He also has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Orchestral Performance and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Advanced Solo Performance from the Royal College of Music.

Mr Quinlivan-Brewer has a stellar professional playing career as a trombonist, having played with the London Sinfonietta, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the London Concert Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and many more. He is in high demand as a recitalist and adjudicator and has given masterclasses in some of the top schools across the UK, as well as at the Yerevan Conservatoire, Armenia.

On joining, he said, ‘I am delighted to be joining ECS at this very exciting time musically and for all the other interlinked curricula and co-curricular disciplines in the School as a whole. As a former pupil at Wells Cathedral School and graduate of the Royal College of Music, I value the important link between choral and instrumental music which is essential for aural training and appreciation for all genres of music. This is very much evident at ECS and I look forward to helping our pupils develop a life-long love of music by developing the ensemble and academic music at this ambitious school.

‘I come to ECS from Wellington College where I have been teaching as a member of the full-time music staff for nearly ten years alongside a career playing with major orchestras in London and performing in services and ceremonies in Canterbury Cathedral. I am married to Davina, who is a university lecturer, and we are the proud parents to our young sons, Inigo and Orlando.

‘I have huge enthusiasm for the transformative power of music and I am very much looking forward to passing this on to the pupils and the staff at ECS to further develop excellence in musical education for all levels and abilities.’

Exeter Cathedral School has a proud musical heritage and a long-established relationship with the Cathedral: providing 36 choristers for its regular services and acts of worship.