My Music Career
Before I entered the commercial world, I spent the first chapter of my career as a professional classical musician. This page tells that story — because it shaped everything that came after.
Training
I trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (BMus) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (MMus), specialising in classical saxophone. I also hold a DipABRSM. I started on piano and voice before discovering the saxophone at eleven — somewhat by chance, when my mum bought my dad one for his 40th birthday. It quickly became my focus, though I continued piano and voice to a high level throughout.
Lunar Saxophone Quartet
I co-founded the Lunar Saxophone Quartet while studying at RWCMD, and it became a decade-long project that defined the first half of my career. We were accepted onto the Live Music Now scheme and began touring extensively across the UK and Europe, commissioning over 50 new works for saxophone quartet along the way.
We recorded two albums on Signum Classics, one on Edition Records, self-released two further albums, and contributed to festival recordings including the York Late Music Festival and the London Festival. The quartet led to collaborations with remarkable musicians and composers including Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Marius Neset, Dave Stapleton, Neil Yates, and the National Orchestra of Wales.
London Contemporary Orchestra
I was invited to join the LCO as principal saxophone. My first performance with them was a live rescoring of Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis at the Roundhouse — my second collaboration at that venue, having previously worked there with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company during my time at Guildhall.
With the LCO I performed at the Barbican Centre with Terry Riley, at the London Festival performing works by Philip Glass, and Glassworks alongside Voces8. I also contributed to major film soundtrack recordings with the orchestra. Alongside my concert work, I performed as a musician on West End theatre productions including Guys and Dolls, Fame, and Grease.
Arts Sector Leadership
I was Director of Marketing and Communications at Saffron Hall Trust and at the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), where I led their professional development programme — delivering webinars and seminars on professional development for the ISM's membership base and working with musicians including Oliver Coates and Paul Harris. I also co-created Office Choir of the Year at Music in Offices, which received BBC television broadcast coverage.
Artist Management
Alongside performing, I took over fourfortytwo, an artist management company originally founded by Phil Venables, when he stepped back to focus on his composing. I later merged it into Bright Ivy, my own artist management agency. We represented artists including conductor and violist Robert Ames of the London Contemporary Orchestra, the Endymion Ensemble, Onyx Brass, composer Gabriel Jackson, composer Gavin Higgins, and multi-instrumentalist Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian.
Live Music Now
Through the Live Music Now scheme, the Lunar Quartet performed around 100 concerts bringing music into spaces that don't normally have access to it — care homes, prisons, dementia wards, and facilities for people with special needs and learning difficulties. We also toured to Austria and Scotland, and jointly commissioned a new work by composer John Metcalf called On Song, which we recorded on our Signum Classics album These Visions.
After leaving the scheme I continued to coach ensembles of musicians, sat on audition panels for groups applying to join, and spoke at several Live Music Now professional development conferences on arts management, promotion, and running yourself effectively as a professional musician.
Recordings & Broadcasts
I'm a featured saxophonist on two albums of works by composer Gabriel Jackson. Vox Clara (Regent Records, 2016), recorded with the Choir of Truro Cathedral and organist Luke Bond, features four pieces for saxophone, choir, and organ — I premiered the title track at St John's College, Cambridge as part of their Advent Service, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Delphian Records), recorded with the Choir of Merton College, Oxford and the Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia, won a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2020.
I've also been broadcast on Sky Arts performing Gubaidulina's In Erwartung for saxophone quartet and percussion, on BBC Radio 3, and on BBC Radio 5 Live, and performed two sold-out concerts at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Teaching
Alongside performing, I held teaching positions at Wellingborough School, City of London Boys' School, and Hampton School, teaching saxophone and clarinet. I was Head of Music at Lyndhurst Primary School in London, which won awards and grants as a result of the work I did there. Earlier in my career I taught for Kent Music Service, Cardiff Music Service, and CAVMS.
I've also led masterclasses at Cardiff University, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Leeds University, and a number of independent schools.
Key Venues
Barbican Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Southbank Centre, Wales Millennium Centre, the Roundhouse — and hundreds of other venues across the UK and Europe.