Tim is a curious Sheffield-based guitarist, composer, improvisor, researcher, educator, and bandleader. His exploratory outlook, versatility, and enthusiasm for a wide range of musics, has resulted in the pursuit of creative projects that involve the intersection of different musical styles and approaches. These include the Arts Council funded music and poetry crossover project, Genevieve Carver and the Unsung (2016-2020); Jazz North sponsored nu-jazz upstarts, Beyond Albedo (2017-2021); post-minimalist improvisatory ensemble, Emergence Collective (2019-); and the folk-inflected original jazz of the Tim Knowles Quartet (2021-). 

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Tim is passionate about music education, and has taught over 10000 private music lessons in the past decade. In his role as Teaching Associate in Performance at the University of Sheffield he delivers Performance workshops, and lectures on a wide range of topics, including Jazz, Traditional Musics, Popular Music Studies, Music Theory, and Ethnomusicology. 

 

Tim is researching an ethnomusicological PhD on the dynamics of public participatory music making (e.g. jam sessions, folk sessions, open mics), and has presented his findings at conferences across the UK.