My first violin lessons were with the West Texas legend that was Dorothy Croft. From the age of 5, she was my principal teacher until I left for college in London. Mrs Croft also made it possible for me to travel to the Meadowmount Summer School in New York State and have lessons with Ivan Galamian’s assistant at Julliard, Margaret Pardee, for two years. When I was 18, I received a four-year scholarship to study with Professor Bela Katona at Trinity College of Music, London, where I gained my Performer’s Diploma in 1980.
I joined the BBC Concert Orchestra in 1982, was appointed Associate Leader in 1987 and became Leader in 2003, a post I held for 11 years. In addition to the usual duties as Leader, I appeared frequently as a soloist with the orchestra, both on TV and Radio, including the BBC Proms. I led many concert tours around the world including in Europe, North America, Canada, the Middle East and the Far East. A memorable career highlight for me was performing Vaughan Williams' “The Lark Ascending”, broadcast live on Chinese State Radio and Television to an audience of over a billion listeners in Beijing in 2013.
I have acted as Guest Leader with many orchestras including the Hallé, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra in the UK and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in Dublin. I was also in demand as a session player and performed solos on many well-known TV and Film soundtracks.
