Education

I am passionate about teaching and relish the sharing of knowledge. Each student is unique and this yields different insights into methods of approach. In some cases a student can change the way I think about something and this is the joy of teaching. I have taught the oboe at various music colleges for most of my working life and have examined often. And lastly, one of the privileges in education is being played to, and listening to, other oboists.  There’s so much to understand and to learn.

Teaching appointments

Wells Cathedral School 1980-82

Oboe Professor Royal Academy of Music 1994-2001

Trinity College of Music Oboe Professor 2000-2001

Director of Woodwind Studies Royal Northern College of Music 2001-2003

Consultant in Woodwind Studies RNCM 2003-2017

Oboe Tutor Royal Birmingham Conservatoire 2017-

Oboe Tutor National Youth Orchestra 2005-



Examining and Jury Appointments

Belgrade (2002) and Gisborne (New Zealand 1997) Oboe Competitions 

Trinity College of Music Final Recitals (1998 and 2011)

Birmingham Conservatoire Final Recitals (2001-2004) 

RAM Oboe Prize and Final Recitals (2002 and 2003)

RCM Final Recitals (2008 and 2010) 

Guildhall Final Recitals (2009) 

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance Final Recitals (2010, 2012 and 2014)

Royal Overseas League Chamber Competition (2018)

Guildhall Final Recitals (2024)



Public masterclasses, workshops, lecture recitals

Summer Schools: Dartington (since 1982), Stowe, Britten-Pears, Purcell School.

London Sinfonietta: Creative Education workshops in London, and abroad in Norway, Holland and Greece (since 1987).

NYO Coaching and Creative Workshops (since 1998)

RAM Lecture on “Contemporary Music around the Oboe” (1999)

Classes at the RAM, RCM, Trinity College of Music, Guildhall and Junior Guildhall

Lecture recital at Huddersfield University (2004), Holloway College University of London, for the SPNM at Cardiff University (2008),

British Double Reed Society Oboe Masterclasses 

BCMG Composer Workshops for Birmingham University and Creative Education workshops in Birmingham (since 2004)

RNCM lectures on Improvisation and Composition including research into this subject (2015/16)

PhD Presentations at Senate House, London RNCM, RBC (2017/18/19)

British Double Reed Society Improvisation workshop and lecture recital on Aulos at RBC (2023)


One of the most enjoyable situations I have experienced is being part of a workshop team exploring music creatively with improvisation. 

Creative workshops with the London Sinfonietta from the 1980s under the leadership of Gillian Moore had a profound influence on my own working practices. With an animateur or a composer who led the sessions we visited secondary and primary schools, prisons, international contemporary music groups, conservatoires of music and the NYO. The music we made used specific building blocks taken from well-known pieces of contemporary music. The sessions were always inspirational because the music we made together and performed gave us a tremendous sense of community and fulfilment.

Some of the many memorable occasions:

  • Holloway prison in London

  • Norway working with the BIT20 Ensemble

  • Athens working with students playing original authentic Greek instruments      

And one exceptional experience:

  • Trip to Uganda in 2007 to explore the sounds of rocks on the island of Lolui in Lake Victoria. 

Creative Workshops with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group has a busy education program run by Nancy Evans. There are many strands but some of the most enjoyable have been working with composers and music students. Some of the many memorable occasions:

  • Working with composer Fraser Trainer with young musicians and composers

  • Working with composer David Horne with GCSE young musicians

  • Working with the BCMG NEXT cohort of young professional musicians on an improvisation piece of my own Sounding Out Varèse. www.bcmg.org.uk for Sounding Out Varèse II.