Tom Rumbold was born in Ipswich in 1981 and has lived there for 25 years. He has taken part in both amateur and semi-professional music engagements throughout the UK and abroad.

       Tom showed an early interest in music, teaching himself to play the Drum Kit and Piano while at primary school. During his time at Chantry High School in Ipswich , Tom began his musical training in earnest. He received lessons on Clarinet, Drum Kit, Orchestra Percussion and Piano. This was in addition to finding time to study for ten GCSEs and then three A Level examinations during normal school hours! Music as a subject was included at both secondary and advanced level, and Tom also enjoyed extended tuition in Harmony, Composition, Orchestration, Stage Management and Musical Direction from the Head of Music and Performing Arts, Malcolm Porter. At he age of 13, Tom performed with the school Wind Band at Snape Maltings Concert Hall and knew that performances of this nature were what he wanted as the foundation of his musical career.

      In 1995, he was accepted into the Suffolk Youth Band and in August 1996. Following a hugely successful and enjoyable concert tour to Budapest Hungary with the SYWB, Tom was promoted to the percussion section of the nationally acclaimed Suffolk Youth Orchestra. It was with the SYO that Tom developed considerably as an Orchestral Percussionist. He spent just over five years in the SYO, enjoying numerous concert appearances in the UK venues that included Snape Maltings, St Edmundsbury Cathederal in Suffolk and three performances in London; two at the Royal Festival Hall. During Tom’s membership of the SYO he also toured Europe extensively, including Valencia, Barcelona, Krakow, Tuscany, Paris and the Bay of Liguria, near Alassio, in Italy.

     Just under a year after playing his last concert with the Suffolk Youth Orchestra, Tom embarked upon another four years of study, reading for an Honours Degree at the Colchester Institute, which is part of the Anglia Ruskin University . It was here that he met Chris Phelps (Course Leader for the Music BA). Chris had both the skills and, more crucially the willingness to teach Tom much about the art of conducting and general music leadership. The environment at Colchester inspired Tom to build on his experiences of Performance and Musical Leadership and he had plenty of  opportunities to conduct various ensembles within the Music department and also to assist with the day to day running of musical groups and specific events. Tom graduated in September with a BA (Hons) in Music, including levels of achievement in Conducting and Musical Leadership equivalent to those of a first class mark.

     Tom was formally appointed by a unanimous vote as Musical Director of the Ipswich Community Wind Band on the 1st. November 2006.