David Lloyd

David was born in 1930 and began piano lessons at about age seven. Towards the end of his secondary schooling he had decided on electrical or electronic engineering as

a career, so National Service consisted of servicing RAF aircraft radio equipment. About 1951, he became a full-time engineering student at the Technical College in Preston. While there he also took up the cello, and played in a concert for the first time in 1953.

His first job after graduating was with Smith’s Aircraft Instruments; then in 1955 he became a Junior Fellow in the Electrical Engineering Department, University of Bristol. A flourishing music department welcomed members of other disciplines, resulting in rich playing experience in symphony and string orchestras and in chamber and opera groups. 1959 and the completion of his research project and PhD saw a move to Canada and three years as an Assistant Research Officer with the National Research Council in Ottawa. Again there were plenty of opportunities to play the cello in orchestras and chamber groups.

In 1962 he came to work at AWRE Orfordness on electronics and vibration problems; he and his wife set up home in Woodbridge, and he joined the Ipswich Orchestral Society. From 1967 to 1974 David worked for Unesco in his technical field in three assignments; India, South Korea and Singapore. Musical activities were more variable in these places. In Singapore he made a start on musical composition, with one or two broadcasts of his pieces on the local radio station.

In 1974 the family returned to Woodbridge and David took a position in the Test & Development Department at Ransomes Sims and Jefferies where he remained until his retirement from engineering in 1990. For the entire period he taught cello, part-time, to schoolchildren; first in the Rural Music School and then for the County Music Service. He joined the Woodbridge Orchestral Society in October 1995 and led the cellos until essential tremor forced him to give up in 2004. For a year or so before retirement he had been collecting and/or making tools, moulds and templates for building string instruments, so that when 1990 came he was able to start this activity, which resulted in five cellos, two violins and a viola.

In the 1990s he was developing some skills in musical composition. In the orchestra’s Millennium Concert in 2000 his Woodbridge Overture was played. This was followed by a new piece on most of the succeeding years, including his “Celebration Overture for 2007” for the orchestra’s Centenary Concert.

On the passing of Bernard Barrell, David became the new President of the Society in 2005, at the invitation of the committee.