Judith Bailey was born in Cornwall in 1941. She studied conducting with Maurice Miles, composition with Andrew Byrne, clarinet with Stephen Waters and piano with Leslie England at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Following a short career as a peripatetic woodwind teacher, since 1971 she has worked as a freelance composer, conductor and clarinetist. Her compositions include two symphonies, two string quartets, a clarinet concerto and many other orchestral, chamber and instrumental pieces.

Judith was conductor of the Southampton Concert Orchestra and Petersfield Orchestras for around 30 years. She has been the conductor of Cornwall Chamber Orchestra since September 2002, and of the Penzance Orchestral Society since April 2003, having returned to Cornwall to live and work in 2001. That year she was appointed an associate of the Royal Academy of Music, an award made to ex-students who have shown distinction in their profession.

In 2005, Judith was made a bard of the Cornish Gorseth for services to music in Cornwall. For many years she shared her life with her Scottish friend Isabel Young who was a keen and competent amateur ‘cellist.

The Davey Chamber Ensemble is a group of dedicated professional musicians working under the leadership of violinist Juliet Davey. The basis of the group is a string or piano quartet to which extra strings or wind players are added as required. They have performed throughout the 80s and 90s and up to the present day mainly in London, Edinburgh, the Home Counties and the West country.