Lester Simpson

Lester Simpson is an English folk singer, songwriter and local radio presenter from the United Kingdom. In the early 1990s, he helps to form the acappella folk vocal trio Coope Boyes & Simpson, and he also works with Blue Murder and Rogues Gallery.

Songwriting and commissions

Simpson writes songs that range from lyrical material to pieces with wry humour, and his work receives commissions from organisations in Britain and Europe. At the request of radio DJ Andy Kershaw, he writes and records songs and the signature tune for the BBC Radio 1 series Kershaw Comes Home. He also draws on local roots and traditions for The Belper Suite, commissioned by Belper Millennium Celebrations, and March Of Time, written for Wellingborough Council. His song Make It Mend It appears as part of the Cambridge University Advanced Course in English for Foreign Students.

War, peace and commemorative work

A major theme in Simpson’s writing is the area around Passchendaele and Ypres in Flanders, which inspires many of his best-known songs. Peace Concerts Passendale commissions songs and music from him, and the work gains national awards. His music is used in the Channel 4 documentary The Underground War and Carlton Television’s Shot at Dawn. His pieces are performed in live concerts and recordings in Passchendaele Church, and as part of the Passchendaele Suite they are performed for the town’s eightieth-anniversary commemorations of the battle. In 1998, his work for Peace Concerts’ production The Christmas Truce 1914 forms the centrepiece of performances in Ypres Cathedral, and with Coope Boyes & Simpson he is invited to compose a new Peace Concert.

Recording and broadcasting

Simpson records eight albums with Coope Boyes & Simpson and appears on national and European television and radio. He records sessions for BBC Radios 1, 2 and 4, presents a weekly two-hour live show for BBC Midlands Radio, and has worked in film and theatre, including a period with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre in London.