I was so fortunate to have access to wonderful teachers and mentors as a young lad growing up in Leicestershire in the UK.  Both the Leicestershire County Music Service and Enderby Brass Band afforded me the twin opportunities of expert, free tuition,  and a family to pursue my love of music.

Following this were 8 amazing years at Oxford University, culminating in a Doctorate in Chemistry.  Whilst this turned out not to be my final career path, I remain passionate about the study of science and I’m proud that I was once a tutor in Biological Chemistry to several Oxford University Colleges.

I went on to study at Birmingham Conservatoire of Music with both John Holland and Wes Warren. Great players both, who helped me to realise what it was, and what one needed to be a professional orchestral musician. My thanks goes to them for the skills passed on, and the career advice and the encouragement whilst trying to progress through the unpredicatable road which is the music business.

In the summer of 2000, nearly 20 years ago I was appointed as the Principal Trumpet of the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin.  What an amazing position for any trumpet player to hold.  Every kind of repertoire, every kind of challenge.  No chance to get bored – often times barely time to get settled from one project to the next.  It’s not unusual to be playing lead in the RTE Big Band and then solo piccolo trumpet in the same week.

And then there are the Artists we work with.  So many wonderful Musicians over the years.  Composers such as David Arnold and Ronnie Hazelhurst(!!), Big Band leaders like Lalo Schiffrin and Johnny Dankworth, Rock Musicians such as Alice Cooper, Roger Daltry and John Lord and innumerable classical artists like Luciano Pavarotti, Lang Lang, Placido Domingo, Nigel Kennedy, Kiri Te Kanowa, Ian Bostridge, Bryn Terfel and the list goes on. All great fun…