Biography

I was born and grew up in north-west England. I studied the piano, clarinet and organ, and spent most of my leisure time trying to play Beethoven piano sonatas. The list of youth orchestras, wind bands, chamber groups and choirs in which I took part probably looks quite similar to that of most young, enthusiastic musicians.

I read music at The Queen's College, Oxford, where I held an academic exhibition and a choral bursary in the chapel choir. I also took part in less formal worship music in some of the city churches. My own compositions for Christian worship reflect this broad mix of musical traditions. After graduating, I studied as a postgraduate for four years at Reading University, specialising in music theory and analysis. I completed an MMus degree, and a PhD on Brahms's clarinet works.

Since then I have taught music, mainly in state schools. I spent several years working as a peripatetic woodwind teacher. I then trained as classroom teacher, and am now Head of Music at Wheatley Park School, near Oxford. I continue to be involved in church music, and am Musical Director at St. Matthew's Church, in south Oxford. I have an eclectic range of other performing interests, including as conductor of Cumnor Choral Society, and with the wind quintet Syrinx, the contemporary music group Ensemble Ox, and the Little Oxford Big Band.

My compositions are a mixture of vocal pieces and music for woodwind. Many of my vocal compositions were written for use in services at St. Matthew's, either for congregational singing, or for a choir or soloist. St. Matthew's uses music from a broad range of styles and traditions, and has a group of musicians who are very happy to have demands made on their versatility - this versatility is reflected in some of the scores I have written for them. There are also some pieces on the site which were originally written for school choirs.

Many of my recent instrumental compositions explore the possibilities of combining woodwind instruments with computer and recording technology. During my formative musical years I was completely indifferent to the possibilities of music technology, which in those days were fairly limited anyway. The process of training as a teacher, however, forced me towards a more curious and open-minded approach towards music and computers (like most teachers, I can learn a lot from my pupils). Most of the recordings on this site are products of a coming together of my interests in music technology with some of my longer-standing musical interests.

I live with my patient wife and four energetic children in Oxford. When I am not occupied by music or teaching, they take up what little time remains. If you listen very carefully, they can be heard in some of the musical performances on the recordings page...