Viv has immersed herself in musical education and music making in Gloucestershire since stepping down as a local newspaper editor following a 40-year career in newspaper and magazine journalism.

Married with two sons and four grandchildren, Viv was a bursary student at St Paul’s Girls’ School in London and went on to read Chemistry at Leeds University. She later trained as a sub-editor at the Morgan Grampian Group in London before branching out into regional newspaper journalism in Cambridgeshire and later Gloucestershire. She was editor-in-chief of a county magazine group based near Bristol before becoming editor of the then Northcliffe-owned The Forester newspaper, sister paper of The Citizen and Echo.

She is also chair of Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra and the Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year competition, which both partner with GAM in many of its activities. She was last year’s chair of the Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra in her home patch and has sat on the boards of Gloucester Culture Trust and Marketing Gloucester Ltd.  Viv was appointed a Deputy Lord Lieutenant in 2018 and is a member of the Honours Group.

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Following a degree in Fine Art and Music from Reading University, Stephen decided to combine his career as an artist and musician with teaching.

Stephen taught art and music at Cleeve School in Gloucestershire until 1998. During that time he was seconded for two years to work with the county arts education team and was also the Art subject coordinator for the Post Graduate Teacher Training Diploma at the University of Gloucestershire.

In 1998 he was appointed School Arts Inspector for Worcestershire Children’s Services.  In this role he led the Worcestershire Music Services and Arts Education teams.

During his career, Stephen has also worked as education consultant, Ofsted inspector and GCSE examiner .

As a musician, Stephen is a keen singer and horn player and conductor of Cheltenham Philharmonic and Cantilena Orchestras. As a dedicated painter he has exhibited across Gloucestershire, and has presented solo shows at the Gardens Gallery Cheltenham and the Curve Gallery in Churchdown.

Fenner has been Head of Marketing and Box Office for Longborough Festival Opera since 2016 and formerly worked as a marketing executive for Cheltenham Festivals.

Music is an important part of Fenner's life.  For the last 15 years, Fenner has run the highly respected local group, Swing From Paris.

A former lawyer and senior business executive, Gill has over 30 years’ experience working as a corporate lawyer and regulatory compliance professional in the financial services sector.

For many years she led the Legal and Compliance teams at Chelsea Building Society, and was instrumental in setting up the Society’s Charitable Foundation. Latterly, she worked at an international level for Belgian insurer Ageas Insurance advising the business on EU Regulatory Compliance strategy, and chairing the UK Association of British Insurers (ABI) Conduct Regulation Committee.

Gill has always felt committed to her local community. She was a Governor/Trustee of Balcarras and St Edwards schools In Cheltenham. A former Parish Councillor, she is currently Chair of Charlton Kings Business Connect group. 

A keen musician, Gill plays the violin with Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra (GS0) and Cheltenham Philharmonic Orchestra, and is a Committee Member of GSO. 

Ian is the former editor of the Western Daily Press, Editor in Chief of Gloucestershire Media and the Northern News Editor for the Daily Mail. Ian is a Freeman of the City of Gloucester and supports local cultural organisations such as the Churchdown Male Voice Choir, of which he is President.  He  is currently the vice chair of GFirstLEP, Business West Director for Gloucestershire and the Chair of Gloucestershire hospitals organ donation committee.

Originally from Gloucestershire, Amelia started learning the violin at the age of 4 with Caroline Lumsden.  Now living in London, she is a freelance violinist with a varied career.  She is co-leader of Orchestra of the Swan and performs regularly with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as well as London Mozart Players and Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Amelia also plays with the band Human Pyramids and is passionate about the power of music.  As part of Arco Duo she performs concerts in care homes and hospitals around the country.

Damian worked for 3 years as a District Health Officer in Malawi before becoming a GP in Gloucestershire in 1991. Damian was also a tutor in General Practice, working with GPs and other health workers to promote consulting skills, facilitating skills, teaching skills, etc. He retired in 2018 but continues to do some freelance educational work and is a tutor for medical students on the Effective Consulting course at Bristol University.

Damian has always enjoyed playing music and plays violin with the Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra and European Doctors’ Orchestra. He enjoyed teaching music to his three children and accompanying them on the piano for exams and concerts. Recently, he enjoyed playing weekly ‘Live on the Drive’ concerts with his daughter, for neighbours who listened from their own drives!  Following retirement, Damian joined the GAM board and enjoys seeing young people develop their musical talent as they make music together.

Tony is a retired solicitor.  Educated at grammar school, he has an MA in law from Cambridge University.  Tony qualified as a solicitor and has practiced as a partner in private practice and has been company secretary for various private companies.  As an amateur string player, he enjoys his role of GAM’s company secretary and serving as a Trustee.  He is also a supervisor at the Gloucester and District Citizens Advice Bureau. 

Jim read mathematics at Oxford University before spending a year travelling in Asia.  He qualified as a chartered accountant with Touche Ross in London and went on to work for an oil trader as a deal accountant.

In 1996, Jim and his wife moved from London to Gloucestershire and he worked for an advertising agency before spending thirteen years at a helicopter engineering and pilotage company providing services to the Police and Air Ambulance communities, where he was Finance Director.  In 2013, Jim took early retirement, became a trustee of GAM in 2017, and is currently chair of the finance committee. Jim lives in Gloucestershire with his wife and two sons, both of whom have studied with GAM, and enjoys travelling and woodwork.