I am a composer and arranger of orchestral and chamber music in a number of styles and genres, including music for the stage, and educational music. I have composed several large orchestral works, three operas, several musicals and a number of chamber works and music for solo instruments. I have also written a series of four novels, Distant Vengeance, Missing In Plain View, One By One By One, and Punchline.
As well as composing music, I am an experienced conductor of shows and orchestras at every level, from beginner to professional orchestras.
As a performer, I can usually be found in the orchestra or the theatre pit, playing flutes (including piccolo, alto and bass), clarinets and saxophones. I am a regular member (and also a Trustee) of the Opera Anywhere touring company, either conducting, or providing woodwind accompaniment and sound effects for their many and varied professional productions.
Studio65 is a publishing and trading company, which buys and sells specialist instruments, and supplies sheet music to local teachers, schools and colleges. It also publishes and distributes most of my own music, and takes on special projects such as new productions, or one-off events. It is wholly owned by me, but is run separately from my teaching and performing business.
Ted – my late father – was the greatest musical influence on my life. It was he who I went to watch playing in West End shows such as Pickwick and The Sound of Music; he who brought home a record of the Budapest Gypsies from a tour behind the iron curtain, and spent hours playing me recordings of his (our) favourite ballets and operas, with the full score in front of us.
I wouldn’t have composed a note of music if he had not sparked that fascination with the never-ending possibilities of musical sounds. He also took me to see a live performance of Ravel’s superb ballet, Daphnis and Chloe, my all time favourite work, and I can’t listen to it without thinking of him playing the E-flat clarinet part that evening. Many of my younger friends and colleagues know nothing about my father except his name, so this is a link to a page dedicated to his life and work.
