Music Team
Musical Director
Alison Houlbrooke BA (Hons), Dip. Mus. (Open), Dip. ABRSM (choral directing)
Alison took up the role of musical director of Hereford Police Male Choir in 2002, and her considerable musical skills and experience have helped develop the choir to its current premier status.
As a teenager, she was leader of Herefordshire Youth Orchestra and went on to study music at Birmingham Conservatoire. Alison herself sings with the international chamber choir ‘Sine Nomine’ and is a member of Hereford Choral Society.
A qualified music teacher, Alison works part-time for Herefordshire Music Service and also as a freelance teacher, specializing in vocal and aural work. She is an Advisory Teacher for the Voices' Foundation, a member of the Association of British Choral Conductors and Sing For Pleasure, and was awarded the diploma ABRSM in Choral Directing in 2003.
Alison has spent the last fifteen years developing her conducting and vocal skills for use both in the school classroom and for the various choirs she is associated with. The quality of the Police Choir's latest album, “Still Standing in Song” clearly shows she is a master of her craft.
Deputy Director
Inspector David Coulson
A retired police inspector, David studied at the Guildhall School of Music, but changed his mind about a career as a singer instead joining the Metropolitan Police which also gave him the opportunity to sing with the Met. Police Choir as a chorister and soloist. He performed with the choir in such prestigious venues as Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Festival Hall. In 1988 he returned to his native Worcestershire, transferring to West Mercia Police and continued his singing with Hereford Police Choir. A baritone, David is the choir's principal soloist and is also much in demand as a soloist for major musical events around the region.
Michael Blake
Michael is 19 and in his first year as an organ scholar at Birmingham Conservatoire. He is a former student at Hereford Sixth Form College, where he gained his ATCL Piano Performance Diploma and his Grade 8 Organ with distinction. He is assistant organist with the Academia Musica Choir at the Sixth Form College and is also accompanist to Malvern Male Voice Choir.
