He is a tenor, flautist, choir director, composer, arranger and teacher born in the area of Liverpool, England.
When he was young he began arranging and composing music for various choirs and orchestras and during the time he attended college there were performances at the University of London of his works “Magnificat” and “Shades of Night”.
He started his professional career playing the flute but left that to become a high school teacher. He taught in England at first and then moved on to a teaching position in Singapore. He stayed there for about five years and travelled to St. Louis, Missouri to take on another position in 1995. He held the post of Assistant Director of the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus and Choir Director at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion in University City and at John Burroughs School.
Never taking a break from writing compositions and arrangements, he has written at least 70 works that have included folk songs, anthems and carols with some being commissioned by the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus. His largest work is the choral piece “The Ruling Moon”, which was premiered in 1997 by the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus under the leadership of Philip Barnes and his arrangement of “On a Bus to a Cloud” by Gretchen Peters has a version commissioned by the Gateway Men’s Chorus.
He and his wife, Iona, who was a soprano with the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, returned to the UK to live in Monkton in Kent, England in 2000 when he took up the position of Director of Music at Kent College, Canterbury.
St. Louis Chamber Chorus recordings
The Angel Gabriel (Traditional Basque/Sabine-Baring Gould)
SLCC 04 (CD: St Louis Chamber Orchestra: A Spanish Christmas)
Arranger: Edgar Pettman
Conductor – Philip Barnes
Sources: