Roger Wilkes was born in Birmingham and read music at Clare College, Cambridge (where he was a choral exhibitioner). He also holds a music degree from London University. After professional periods in music librarianship and schoolteaching, he turned to adult education, and from 1974 till 1990 was Staff Tutor in Music at the College of Adult Education in Manchester. After the College closed in 1990 he remained as a member of the Manchester Adult Education Service until, in 1993, he became a freelance musician and music educator. Meanwhile, in 1991, he and his wife Val had founded Mostly Music with its diverse range of activities.

Since 1993 Roger has been very active as a freelance adult education lecturer. He taught for many years as an Associate Lecturer for the Universities of Keele, Manchester and Liverpool, and for the Workers' Educational Association. Between 1994 and 2010 he was a regular summer school tutor in music for the Open University. Between 1996 and 2004 he was a music examiner for the International Baccalaureate. He has been a regular music tutor at the Wilmslow Guild since 1994, and also directs regular weekend singing courses at Higham Hall, Cumbria, near Cockermouth, in Cumbria, and at Alston Hall, Lancashire.

As will be seen elsewhere on this web site, Roger is the author of of various study booklets, and has also become increasingly active as an editor of Renaissance music, and composer and (especially) arranger of music for mixed choirs and upper voices.

Besides this teaching, writing and editorial activity, Roger has two principal areas of musical interest: church music and early music. After graduating from Cambridge he was, for a total of seven years, a lay clerk in the choirs of Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire, then of Ely Cathedral. Between 1979 and 1985 he was Secretary of the Manchester Area of the Royal School of Church Music. Since 1988 he has been a member of the Council of the Guild of Church Musicians, was a founder-member of the Guild's Academic Board, and, since 1989, has been a regular examiner for the Archbishops' Certificate in Church Music. He has written a correspondence course (mostly recently revised in spring 2008)for ACertCM candidates, for whom he also acts as a correspondence tutor. For several years he edited Laudate, the magazine of the Guild. In November 1995 he was elected an honorary Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians.

Roger was directly involved in the formation of the North West Early Music Forum (NWEMF), which officially came into existence at the College of Adult Education, Manchester, in November 1977 - the first of an important, and flourishing, national and international network of such early music fora. He was Secretary, Treasurer and Newsletter editor from 1977 till 1985, and was elected President of NWEMF in 1985, since which time he has continued to be actively involved in the work of the Society. He was a tutor on the annual NWEMF Summer School of Renaissance Music each year between 1982 and 2011, serving as Course Director from 2003 to 2011. He has been a regular guest tutor at workshops organised by other regional early music fora, including North East Early Music Forum (NEEMF), Border Marches Early Music Forum (BMEMF), Midlands Early Music Forum (MEMF), and the Eastern Early Music Forum (EEMF).

Besides the above, Roger continues to pursue an active musical life, principally as singer and choral conductor. He has directed the Manchester Cavendish Singers, the vocal ensemble Opus XI, and (from 2001 until autumn 2005) the Vale Royal Singers. He has acted, and continues to act, as guest director of other choirs, including the Laetare Singers and the Bristol Chamber Choir.

This web site last updated: 30 October 2011