BIOGRAPHY

Born and raised in Plymouth, Devon, David was a student at Devonport High School for Boys. While at school, David was accompanist for the Plymouth Youth Orchestra and noteworthy performances at the time include Beethoven's fourth piano concerto, in which David was soloist. 

At the age of 16, David was awarded the ATCL (Associate of Trinity College London) performance diploma and, prior to leaving the sixth form, he had been awarded the LRAM (Licentiate of the Royal Academy of music) teaching diploma. Subsequently, David gained a place to read Music at Cambridge University. 

During his time at Cambridge David won an instrumental scholarship to study with international concert pianist Kendall Taylor - invaluable tuition which continued beyond David's university graduation.  

While at Cambridge, David also learned the organ, which led to him being invited to play for college chapel services and, for practice throughout his PGCE year, he was granted privileged access to the magnificent four-manual Hill organ at Peterborough Cathedral. In his latter years at Cambridge, David was principal conductor for the Selwyn College choir and orchestra, he ran a concert society and he was a performer for the University Music Club. 

In the years around the time of his graduation, David gave many notable recitals. Among these, he performed as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto in E flat (K482) and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1. However, arguably his most technically-demanding performance was of Liszt's Second Ballade. 

As a teacher of music, David was offered his first senior position immediately after leaving university, as Head of Music at Sunbury Grammar School, in Middlesex, where he spent several years. Following this appointment David went on to spend 15 years as Organist and Director of Music at Ashlyns School, Berkhamsted. The historically-significant chapel, around which Ashlyns School is built, played host to numerous concerts under David's leadership. These included Handel's Messiah (incidentally, the Ashlyns chapel once housed Handel's organ), Mozart's Requiem, Bach's St John's Passion and symphonies by Beethoven and Schubert, as well as many organ and piano recitals. 

While at Ashlyns David met his wife Rosemary, with whom he has three adult children and six grandchildren. 

For 17 years David was a member of the Bach Choir which, at the time, was conducted by the great choirmaster Sir David Willcocks. Among many performances, David toured Israel and Hong Kong with the choir and he sang at the 1981 Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul's Cathedral. 

In 1989 David left Ashlyns and school teaching altogether, to focus on one-to-one tuition with dedicated students. Today he continues to work from his home in Tring which has seen more than 300 students pass through the doors. Many of these have started at the age of seven and have managed to achieve grade eight before leaving school. Several adults have achieved diplomas and gone on to study music at universities and music colleges. A few of David's former pupils have gone on to become music professionals. These include Bangor University lecturer Dr Edward Wright.

David holds the following qualifications:

MA (Cantab) - Master of Arts (University of Cambridge)

LRAM - Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music

ATCL - Associate of Trinity College London

PGCE - Postgraduate Certificate in Education (University of Cambridge)