I was born in England in 1959. After composition studies at Keele University with Roger Marsh and Peter Dickinson I moved to Canada in 1984 to complete a PhD at the University of Victoria with Rudolf Komorous (composition) and Doug Collinge (electroacoustic music).
My principal interests in music are how time can be manipulated, how complex musical situations can be produced with simple strategies, and balancing composer-performer-listener satisfaction
From 1986 to 1988 I was Associate Director and Conductor of the Open Space New Music Series at the Open Space Gallery alongside Martin Arnold, Allison Cameron and Stephen Parkinson. We all moved to Toronto in 1989 and co-founded The Drystone Orchestra. I was a member of Allison's ensemble ARCANA and also performed with ARRAYMUSIC, Strange Companions and others. In 1994 I moved to Calgary and was on the teaching staff at Mount Royal College (now University), and ran the Technology Lab there. I engineered and produced MRU's larger recording projects and worked at the high level summer school for young string players and pianists Morningside Music Bridge from 1997 to 2019. In addition to concert and studio recordings, I’ve worked in post-production audio on many and varied short and feature-length films. I’ve been variously Artistic Director, president and board member of New Works Calgary and produced many concerts of Albertan, Canadian and International artists over a seven-year period. I have also composed for film and multimedia projects - recent collaborators include Chris Markowski, Michal Lavi, Alan Collins, Marla Hlady, Chris Myhr, Barbara Sutherland and. Gary Burns. After three years in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where my wife Barbara Sutherland earned her MFA at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, we are once again living in Calgary, Alberta.
I was trained as a recorder player (studying with Alan Davis in Birmingham through undergrad) and I am a self-taught guitarist.
My music has been heard in many places, performed by Guido Arbonelli, Arcana, ARRAYMUSIC, Brandon Chamber Players, The Burdocks, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Concentus Corvinus, Continuum, Les Coucous Bénévoles, The Drystone Orchestra, Eve Egoyan, Electra, Interensemble, Ensemble Kore, Rosa Selvatica, George W. Welch, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Symphony Orchestra and others.
Here is a pretty scary picture of me:
And a less scary one:
