Welcome!
With over 25 years’ experience as a professional conductor, writer and classroom music teacher, my mission is to inspire others with my love of music.
I have worked as a freelance conductor for over 30 years, leading musical performances with professional orchestras, choirs and opera companies across the UK. I founded the touring company Heritage Opera in 2006 and conducted over 150 performances with the company, including the world première of Jonathan Dove’s chamber opera Mansfield Park in 2011. I have conducted professional orchestras such as West Australian Symphony Orchestra, English Pro Musica, Lancashire Sinfonietta and City of Preston Orchestra. I have also worked as Assistant Conductor at Oxford Opera and Longborough Festival Opera, and have acted as choirmaster to Vladimir Ashkenazy, with performances broadcast on BBC TV and radio.
I have served for twelve years on Senior/Extended Leadership Teams in independent schools as Deputy Head Co-Curricular and Director of Music. Following my Master’s research into Academic Enrichment at the University of Oxford, I now lead on this area at Downe House, an independent senior girls’ school in Berkshire. I live just outside the city of Oxford with my wife and two children.
Books
I have written several music textbooks, including Harmonising Bach Chorales, The A Level Music Study Guide and Let’s Get Musical, a complete music course for 11- to 16-year-olds, including performing, composing and listening activities. Individual pupil workbooks are available for Years 7, 8 and 9, and a complete workbook for GCSE Music (Years 10-11). In addition, there is a Teacher’s Guide for Years 7-9, containing over 200 pages of lesson plans, mark schemes and other resources. I have also edited 50 Traditional Hymns, 50 Traditional Christmas Carols and several other volumes of printed music. These books have collectively sold tens of thousand copies through booksellers worldwide, including Amazon and Blackwell’s Music in Oxford (pictured, with Harmonising Bach Chorales taking pride of place in the window display).
Resources
My Master’s degree prompted me to reflect on how I can further improve my pedagogy and to share best practice with other teachers and students. As a result, I have created high-quality teaching and learning resources to complement my books. Each module comes with an interactive presentation, score excerpts, audio clips, and assessment quizzes. Teachers and students can make the presentations their own by annotating the slides and making notes on the pages; their annotations and notes will be stored on their devices, so they always appear with the slides.
Conducting
I have worked as a freelance conductor for 30 years, leading musical performances with professional orchestras, choirs and opera companies across the UK. I founded the touring company Heritage Opera in 2006 and conducted over 150 performances with the company, including the world première of Jonathan Dove’s chamber opera Mansfield Park in 2011. I have worked with professional orchestras such as English Pro Musica, Lancashire Sinfonietta and City of Preston Orchestra, with performances broadcast on BBC TV and radio.
After gaining a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at the University of Birmingham, specialising in conducting, I participated in a Conducting Workshop with West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and attended both the Canford Conducting Course with George Hirst and the RNCM Conducting Course with Baldur Brönnimann. I have conducted over 200 performances on a professional basis with several orchestras, choirs and opera companies. I have worked with soloists such as Alison Balsom, Carolyn Sampson and Serenna Wagner, with performances broadcast on BBC television and radio.