My Background
Education
After achieving my first music teaching qualification (LTCL), I went on to study classical piano with Mark Racz and voice with Margaret Thomas at the Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with a 1st class honours BA degree. I also studied Performing Arts at the highly esteemed Mountview School in London, and undertook Continued Professional Development at the University of Manchester.
Performance
In my professional career I have performed at exclusive venues all over the UK as a singer and pianist. As a keyboard player I have worked both as a soloist and as a member of various chamber ensembles. Currently I am a member of York's Key Largo Trio (www.myspace.com/keylargotrio). The trio performs at weddings, private functions and corporate events around the North of England. As a singer I specialise in Musical Theatre and pop styles and am currently lead singer of York based music project “Vesper Walk”.
Composing / Song-writing
I am a published composer and song-writer and have co-written a series of educational songbooks for children and various piano compositions for the early beginner. More recently I co-wrote the material for Holly Taymar’s (www.hollytaymar.com) first album “Less Than Nothing” which still sells well in Borders, Track Records in York, takeonerecords.com and on i-tunes.
The Music Industry
Holly Taymar later became the first signee of a record label I co-founded in 2003. GenieCake records (www.geniecake.co.uk) is a Not For Profit independent label which develops and promotes the talent of musicians in Yorkshire and generates relationships with local businesses to benefit the area. This project is currently going from strength to strength. I have also worked for some time as music adviser and vocal coach for SOC records (www.socrecords.com) in Manchester.
Teaching
Nothing is more central to my career than teaching. I have a wealth of piano and vocal teaching experience, working with students of all abilities from the raw beginner to the advanced diploma students, of all ages. I have a 100% pass rate in entering my students for ABRSM graded exams, from Grade 1 – Grade 8 and diplomas. This includes jazz exams and music theory. More importantly though, all my students thoroughly enjoy their lessons.
My teaching career has also included lecturing at the Birmingham Conservatoire and holding seminars and workshops at the Access to Music colleges. I also design and deliver music workshops for young children exploiting the numerous beneficial effects of music exploration on the young child’s educational and social development.