COMPOSER AND SINGER SONGWRITER
After the Applause
I spent decades performing in some of the world’s great musical institutions — Covent Garden, Bayreuth, La Scala, London Voices, Abbey Road — but the direction of my work changed after a difficult period in 2005, when I lost both my mother and brother within twenty‑four hours over Christmas. My voice fell silent for three years. I left the UK and found a kind of refuge in the Czech Republic, where I stayed in a former monastery house in Nepomuk with a lake at the bottom of the garden and a castle watching over it. That landscape, and the story of St John of Nepomuk himself, became a source of quiet strength.
Da Tanto d'Amore (excerpt) from the opera Nepomuk
The Beginning of Composing
It was in Prague and Nepomuk that I began to compose. I purchased an old baby grand piano that seemed to sing back to me when I touched its keys, and I started writing small pieces — firstly not for performance, but simply to find my way back to music. I wrote the songs “Da tanto d’Amore” and “Look Up”, then performed at the Frantiskovy Lazne Festival, Kamen Theatre and on Czech Radio broadcast from the Alpha Theatre Plzen. Those early works were part of a slow return to breath and expression. Water, nature, and music became steady companions, and they remain at the centre of what I do.
From those early songs I developed and wrote my opera Nepomuk that was performed in Liverpool in 2018 (me conducting) with an Arts Council of England grant.
I have writen various classical works, including a cello sonata, the first movement “Tuscany” being performed in Liverpool by Gregor Cuff cello, and Robert Woods, piano.
Look Up, in the video here “Autumn Memories”, is a song about love, not giving up, looking to the stars and believing in the future.
This live recording features me playing the piano and singing at the neoclassical INGO Casino in Františkovy Lázně, during the annual Literary Festival organised by the poet Alenka Vavrová.
The accompanying photos capture Autumn Memories from that event.
Singer Songwriter
It was fantastic conducting the singers and orchestra in my opera. I love conducting choirs too, but I miss the act of singing and so have been concentrating recently more on performance as a singer and pianist.
My recent work as a singer–songwriter grows from a long search for steadiness and clarity — shaped by music, nature, and especially the presence of water. After many years in opera and film music, I now write from a quieter place, using melody and storytelling to reconnect with the world around me. My songs reflect themes of resilience, renewal, and the gentle ways nature can restore the spirit.
My music comes from a life lived between contrasts — the markets of London and the opera houses of Europe, the noise of the city and the stillness of a lake in Nepomuk, the discipline of classical singing and the uncertainty of beginning again.
Plans
I’m currently visiting the sea near Sanremo in Italy a lot, and have written a new song “Sanremo”. Sanremo has an annual song festival, the original precursor to the European Song Concert. This song is more upbeat than the more lyrical songs to be seen on this website.
The recordings on this website are all taken from live recordings, not professionally recorded or mastered. New material is being produced in studio for release, to be followed by live concerts tbc.
More songs are to be released soon over time. Including:
It’s my time, an upbeat song about overcoming past difficulties to believe in yourself.
More. An upbeat protest song about lies.
Time Flies. A lyric song about former love.
Watch out for a the blog section on this website, soon to begin!