Biography

Biography

I am a freelance musician and music educator. I grew up in South Shields and played the piano from the age of seven, later branching out into other instruments. After completing a history degree I taught music in secondary and primary schools in south-east London before taking a year out to do a Masters Degree in Music at York University. In the 1980s I worked as a music lecturer and musical director on the Community Theatre Arts course at Rose Bruford College. From 1990 I was a local authority music adviser and inspector in Greenwich and Lewisham, before going freelance in 2006. My freelance work has included lecturing on initial teacher education courses at London Metropolitan, Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church Universities, running CPD courses in Lambeth, Wandsworth and Newham, and leading a range of other workshops and performance events with adults and young people, as well as writing and editing a range of educational materials. I was chair of the National Association of Music Educators (NAME) in 2006-7 and managing editor for NAME Publications from 2008-13. I have kept alive my involvement in making music. I started working in London in the late 1960s as a pub pianist, later backing a range of performers on the club circuit. I also co-organised a folk club for a number of years and am still active as a folk musician. I am interested in a wide range of different musical styles and traditions, which I try to incorporate in my own music-making.

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