Ashley Thompson (BA DipABRSM ALCM) founded the Triple H Community Choir to serve the neighbouring South Essex villages of Hockley, Hawkwell and Hullbridge, following the completion of his Choral Scholarship at Chelmsford Cathedral in 2012. He has gone on to direct or deputise as a choral conductor for many other groups in Essex and beyond, such as Gaudeamus, Harsnett Choir, Eastwood Chorale, Maldon Choral Society, Billericay Choral Society, Anglia Singers, Ingatestone Choral Society and Stock Choral Society. Ashley’s most high-profile events as a conductor have included services at Wakefield and Southwark Cathedrals, as well as directing The Triple H at Her Majesty’s Theatre Haymarket, and the O2. Repertoire conducted includes Faure Requiem, Britten Ceremony of Carols, Mozart Requiem, Stainer’s Crucifixion, Maunder Olivet To Calvary, Mozart Missa Brevis in D, The Armed Man Choral Suite, and many others. He holds a DipLCM diploma in Choral Direction, for which he studied in London with The Association Of British Choral Directors.
As a pianist, Ashley began learning the instrument at the age of 5, and is qualified to ALCM standard as a Piano Accompanist. He has been in much demand as an accompanist during his career, accompanying groups including Maldon, Billericay and Ingatestone Choral Societies, Anglia Singers, Harmony Ladies’ Choir (Burnham-on-Crouch), Ad Hoc Singers (Upminster), United Singers (Hornchurch), Essex Police Music Society, Gale Singers (Dagenham), Billericay and Southend Operatic Societies, and various others. He is currently taking his DipNCM Piano Solo examination in the summer of 2021. As an organist Ashley has acted as Director of Music for parishes including St. James the Great Colchester, St. George’s Barkingside, Holy Trinity Rayleigh, and is currently Organist of Wesley Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, where he also represents the Liberal Democrats as a Councillor on Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Ashley has previously accompanied services across Essex and London, including at Chelmsford Cathedral.
Ashley’s record as a piano, singing and Theory of Music teacher boasts a very high percentage of Distinctions in LCM and ABRSM examinations, including some pupils achieving 100%, and he is yet to work with a student who has failed an exam. As a hobby, Ashley is a keen composer and arranger of choral music, and as a low tenor he has taken various leading G&S roles for Chelmsford City Opera and other groups, including in HMS Pinafore, Patience, Ruddigore, Yeoman Of The Guard, and The Sorcerer. Additionally he has sung with the Cathedral peripatetic choirs Harsnett and Poscimur and at almost every Anglican Cathedral in England, including Westminster Abbey, St. George’s Chapel Windsor, and St. Paul’s.