Short piece for piano trio performed by the Smetana Trio

I was delighted that a short piece written to mark the occasion of John Whiteman's 70th Birthday, una passegiata rapida for piano trio, was performed on Sunday 25th June 2017, as part of the Abbotsholme Arts Society programme in the chapel of Abbotsholme School. The world renowned, Smetana Trio, gave the performance.

Piano concerto - First performance a great occasion!

The first performance of my piano concerto took place on the 11th March at St Peter's Church in the centre of Wolverhampton. In the programme, I was privileged to join two of the greats of 20th century English music, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst, having my piece sandwiched between the Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus and the Planets Suite. Samantha Ward played the solo part beautifully and with almost telepathic insight. The Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Peter Morris and the leadership of Ros Rayner, supported magnificently, showing why they are rightly regarded as one of the best and most ambitious amateur orchestras in the West Midlands. An appreciative audience of nearly 250 were warmly supportive and with friends and relatives coming from all parts of the country, it was a never-to-be-forgotten occasion!

3 Seasonal Pieces for Choir

The Brierly Hill Choral Society gave the first performance of my 3 seasonal pieces at their Christmas concert on Saturday December 3rd 2016. I wrote the piece for the choir and this was my first outing as Musical Director!

Serenata for Brass Quintet

Random Brass gave the first performance of my Serenata for Brass Quintet at their concert in Bishop's Castle on Sunday 1st February, 2015. I wrote the piece for Paul Kelly and his group of fine established brass players who perform frequently in and around Shropshire.

Celebratory Overture for the Telford Orchestra

I was delighted to be asked to write an overture to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Telford Orchestra. They made a good job of it and I was honoured to be amongst the company of the other composers represented in the concert. Thanks to conductor, John Murton, for a good interpretation and a successful first performance.

A Mid-Summer Night's Concert - an evening of music and poetry

Saturday 23rd June 2012 - St Michael's Church, Madeley at 7.30pm

Conductor: John Murton
Leader: Julia Johnson

Programme (in PDF format)

The Oare String Orchestra composition competition, 2012

Saturday 29th September 2012 has to go down as one of the most exciting days in my composing career!

I had submitted a short piece for viola and string orchestra called "Landscape" into the competition - and for the first time ever I was short-listed.

It was a great pleasure to hear the piece played with great skill and expertise by Martin Outram, member of the Maggini String Quartet and professor of viola at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Oare String Orchestra under the capable baton of Peter Aviss and led by Robin Morrish.

Marcus Blunt with his Concertino piece deservedly won the judges' prize, but I was bowled over to win the audience prize and the prize awarded by the orchestra.

Not least among the pleasures of this day was the opportunity to meet John McCabe who had been invited as one of the judges.

I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Stephen Dankner, the third short-listed candidate, and his good wife after the concert and was much impressed with his achievements and success inthe USA.

Recording session at St. Paul's School, London 2012

It was a terrific four days in August in which I had the pleasure of hearing Samantha Ward playing some of my piano music and having it recorded with intense precision and attention to detail by internationally acclaimed record producer, Ates Orga and renowned sound engineer, Mark Rogers.

I had the privelege of being able to sit back and enjoy myself while they, especially poor Sam, did all the hard work!

The first edit sounds brilliant.

Keep an eye out for further developments in the news section.