Musical Director From the start of this season our Musical Director is Jim Cooke. Jim Cooke was born in Sheffield and has lived in Lancashire since the age of ten. He began conducting in 1978 whilst at college in Liverpool by rehearsing the wind band, later forming a student orchestra to perform concerts of light music, thus developing a very broad-ranging interest in repertory. He studied for his PGCE at Didsbury College of Education and gained more experience conducting the student orchestra on visits to local primary schools. Jim has sung bass in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir since 1988, and has directed the Ormskirk Music Society (choir & orchestra) since 1992, the Crosby Capriol Singers from 2003 to 2009 and Parbold Chamber Choir since 2007. As a composer he has had pieces recorded on two commercial CDs: Concert Jig on Dutton Laboratories' British Light Music Premieres Volume 4, and When it's Christmas Time Once More on the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's Spirit of Christmas album.