It is perhaps not generally realised how versatile a musician Joan was. She played, of course, piano and organ and sometimes was known to perform on the organ of Hexham Abbey when she lived nearby; her secondary specialisms when a student at the Royal Academy were violin and voice; and in later years she learnt guitar, recorder and clarinet. [Alan, a skilled engineer, built Joan a harpsichord. The house is an Aladdin’s Cave of musical instruments].
Her non-musical life was equally varied and characterful. After school in Bruges she joined the WRNS during the War and, using her knowledge of French and Flemish, was employed on secret work on the Continent towards the War’s end. Having signed a vow of secrecy from which she was never absolved, she always afterwards refused to divulge what her work was! So secret it remains.
George Horsman
Joan Gibbons – a long-standing member of NWEMF until about five years ago – died on 22 July, at the grand old age of 93. My knowledge of Joan was based on her attendance at various of my ‘Chester’ early music days – whether for NWEMF, for the University of Liverpool extra-curricular programme or latterly for Mostly Music. I believe that Joan’s enthusiastic and characterful involvement in early music in the Chester area extends back to the halcyon days of Joan Wess, who presided over highly-influential classes during the 1960s and 1970s. Although in later days Joan’s ability to play (recorder, keyboard) became limited, her enthusiasm and good humour remained undimmed; she was full of fun and wit. She will be sorely missed, and we extend our deepest sympathy to her husband Alan.
Roger Wilkes
Published in October 2013 Newsletter
