A Little About Me

Music has always been an important factor in my life and I feel very fortunate to have grown up in Staffordshire at a time when support for instrumental music was at its peak. In addition to learning the recorder from the earliest years of primary school, I had the opportunity to learn cello with Julia Smith and later oboe with Alan Hodges through the County Music Service as well as piano privately with Alyson Lewin and Roy Wightman. 

It's hard to believe the number of groups that provided me with a musical home during this time. From the local Music Centre and County Music School groups to the City of Lichfield Concert Band and Lichfield Sinfonia I was never lacking places to play locally before being selected to play oboe and cor anglais for the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain.

Cello and oboe vied for dominance throughout my school years before the latter finally won out and I proceeded to study music at the University of Durham. During this time, I studied oboe with Philip Cull and graduated with a distinction in performance. As well as performing the Strauss Oboe Concerto with the University Symphony Orchestra, I was also able to gain experience conducting, including the Wind Ensemble and a rather manic Concert Band that we cobbled together on very short notice!

After moving to Cranbrook, British Columbia, I continued to teach privately and my musical activities included playing with Symphony of the Kootenays and taking an active role in the local community through my own choirs and as musical director of the Cranbrook Community and Youth Orchestra.

2021 saw me return to the UK to continue my musical journey, back where it began in central Staffordshire. 

As well as teaching privately, I've had the great pleasure to continue my community work as musical director for the Lichfield u3a Recorder Ensemble, a group which continues to grow from strength to strength. 

I am delighted to have been appointed conductor for the Lichfield Singers commencing September 2026.