You may know me these days as a horn player. Not so well known are my jazz piano skills - normally I keep these to myself, or a few chosen friends. There's more about both below.
Horn Lessons
I started playing the horn when I went to Drayton Manor High School (DMHS) in 1979, then transferred studies to the London Borough of Ealing's Saturday morning music school, Ealing Junior Music School (EJMS). I had free lessons courtesy of the borough until I reached 18, and gained Associated Board Grade 8, and I had a few teachers, including Nicola Jukes, Christopher Newport and David Atchler. After leaving EJMS, I had no teacher for a while, though I had some private lessons with Neil Evans for a while, but when he left England to take up a post with the Seville Opera I stopped having tuition.
Horn Playing - yesterday and today
As a horn player, I have had much experience! EJMS and DMHS both had regular ensembles - wind bands and orchestras, and also at EJMS I played with the brass quintet. During school days I was also a member of Ealing Youth Orchestra, and played my first concerto appearane with the Thames Youth Symphony Orchestra.
I joined West London Sinfonia in 1988, and lead the horn section from 1989 until I moved to the West Midlands in 2001, making the trek from Barnet to rehearsals in Ealing for most of those years - it was well worth it! More local to Barnet was the double wind quintet ensemble to which I gave the name - Kaleidoscope Wind. This had its home in the Queens Park district of North London, and gave concerts in and around North London. I enjoyed the timbre and intimate nature of the smaller ensemble, and with only ten members and a conductor, it certainly was intimate. While in London, I have played as a guest with many ensembles, including Ealing Symphony Orchestra, Sidcup Symphony Orchestra, The Merlin Orchestra and the A40 Orchestra. Now in the West Midlands, my permanent musical homes are Sutton Coldfield Orchestra, Solihull Symphony Orchestra and Birmingham Chamber Orchestra. I do miss the chamber music I played, but SCO is starting to make a chamber concert a regular feature of its diary.
I haven't yet mentioned Sweet Harmony, a group I was introduced into whilst in London, and still play with occasionally. This is the brainchild of Martha Kingdon Ward, musicologist and clarinettist. Normally the group is made up of pairs of clarinets, horns and bassooms, playing music of Mozart and his era in stately homes and period venues mainly in the Home Counties, occasionally varying in strength and location as players and buildings are available. The music is fun, and I enjoy the intimate ensemble.
You will find details of my future concert engagements on the Concert Diary Page, which contains details of the concert contents and links to the organisations' web sites.
Jazz Piano
I really took up the piano as a first instrument, and studied privately from an early age with Viola Rezmer in Ealing. She took me all the way up to Associated Board Grade 8 before pressure of school work made me give up formal lessons. In parallel with those lessons, and since, I learnt to play by ear - that is, without the aid of music! My repertoire takes in swing jazz (Fats Waller, Hoagy Carmichael), as well as more recent styles (Beatles, The Carpenters, Peter Skellern). I admit I have never been a good sight-reader at the piano, so playing by ear really suits me. Normally I play for my own amusement, or occasionally for friends.
Musical
