About Us

Further Biographies to follow…

Nick Gane – First Bass

I was a church choir boy in Bristol but then sport took over! Finally, physically I was unable to compete any more and was persuaded to join St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir in 2000, which turned out to be a brilliant move! Since then, I’ve also performed in 12 Bury Operatic productions at the Theatre Royal and was invited to be a founder member of the Edmund Octet in 2008. A lot of singing, rehearsals, concerts, events, musicals, tours but above all else, a lot of fun!

Ian Robertson – Second Bass

As a choir boy in our local Church, (Epsom Downs) I progressed to head choir boy often singing solos at Church Festivals. The BBC recorded the choir singing “Black and White Fantasy” for which I sang the verses solo.  I also sang in my school choir until my voice ‘slid’ down the ranges.

Apart from Scout Gang Shows, I sang no more until persuaded to join SEMVC by a fellow bass in 1993. When The Edmund Octet’s the late Richard Spaul could no longer sing, I replaced him in the bass section.

Ivor Thulborn – Second Bass

My singing career started when my piano teacher in Cambridge found out that I was much better at singing than I was playing the piano! Having joined Great St Mary’s choir its choirmaster, the amazing, one-armed Dr. Fox, suggested I audition for the choir of Ely Cathedral and I was successful. I didn’t realise at the time how valuable being taught how to sing would become. I sang in a variety of choirs whilst at school but rugby took over at university.  Whilst teaching in Liverpool I became a founder member of the St Agnes Singers. Moving to Norfolk in the 1970s my singing for many years was restricted to pantos but in 1988 I became a founder member of the St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir. In 2012 I was invited to join the Edmund Octet and so here I am!

 Simon Loughe – Top Tenor

Having not sung a note in anger since leaving primary school, (I was told I ‘couldn’t sing’ by my secondary school), it took 42 years and a chance to sing in a golf club one-off gig at the Xmas draw to get me singing properly. A chance meeting with a male voice choir member the following month led to me joining up, and seeking a singing lesson there (with Gill) led to me finding the Octet, where a top tenor vacancy had arisen. As the ‘baby’ of the Octet, I still have much to learn, but I am enjoying every minute of it. If you had told me 4 years ago, I would be singing in public on a regular basis, I would have questioned your sanity. It has radically altered my outlook on so much, and I can’t recommend singing highly enough!

Marcel Rousseau – Top Tenor

My musical life began, aged 8, when I was enrolled into the Massey School of Music in Newcastle-on-Tyne to study piano and where I began vocal lessons. Classical music was what I studied but my interest in swing and jazz had been aroused around the refectory piano at Kings College in Newcastle. I continued playing and singing whilst doing my National Service in the RAF and it was there I started making ‘connections’ which have enabled me to stage many successful Celebrity Charity Concerts. Ronnie Aldridge of the RAF Squadronaires, Harry Lewis and Vera  Lynn, Tony Hatch and Jacqui Trent of Pye Records, Pat Campbell of Decca, Norrie Paramor, and George Martin at EMI are amongst those who have helped me along my very enjoyable musical journey. I have sung with a number of male voice choirs – Felling, Colne Valley, Wigston, Skelmanthorpe to name but a few.  In 2003 I joined St Edmundsbury MVC and in 2007 formed the Edmund Octet. In 2008 I was delighted to be able to ask the very talented Gill Garside to become our Musical Director under whose tutelage and skill we have made great musical progress.

Ed Bacon – Second Tenor

My first public singing was at the age of eleven when I won the Junior Arts Festival Soprano Solo at Stowmarket Grammar School. I sang in the school choirs and in local church choirs until leaving school. I have always played the piano for pleasure. I then had a long career in industry with no participation in music or theatrical activities. Shortly before my retirement in 2008, I was invited to join the St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir by a member who heard me singing in our local church. I was then invited to become a founding member of the Edmund Octet for which I have sung many solos, mainly ballads and show songs. I have also compered for the Octet’s concerts and written and performed sketches for cabaret evenings with the SEMVC . For the past nine years, I have been a member of the Barton Players where I have acted, sung and even danced in many musical productions and annual pantomimes often in a principal role. All this activity has contributed to a very happy and fulfilling retirement and I have made many good friends along the way.

2023 Edmund Octed/Nils Carter de Jong