Where were you born a brought up?
I was born in Ongar in Essex and raised in Colchester and then Chelmsford.

What is your earliest musical memory?
Listening to my older sister play the piano when I was four and wanting to be able to play too.

At what age did you start playing and why this particular instrument?
I started when I was 7. I liked bright sounds, especially the trumpet and violin, and I was too young to start learning the trumpet!

Where and with whom did you study?
When I lived in Chelmsford I studied with Stella Wheeler and then when I moved to London, I studied with David Martin and Nicholas Roth.

When did you join the London Philharmonic Orchestra?
I joined in 1990.

How often do you practise?
Every year, whether I need to or not!

What is the most joyous or interesting thing about your instrument?
The wide range of repertoire.

What is the most frustrating thing about your instrument?
Trying to find an ‘A’ string that works on my violin!

Which musicians do you enjoy listening to?
David Oistrakh, Bill Evans and the Borodin String Quartet.

What are your interests outside music?
My family - my wife Caroline and son Daniel who is 3, organic gardening, country walks, healing and alternative medicine and food and wine.

What is your favourite book/film?
My favourite book is The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird and my favourite film would be The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

What has been the highlight of your orchestra career?
The Mahler with Tennstedt and playing Porgy and Bess at Glyndebourne. Also the European tour with Charles Dutoit and Vadim Repin and my first tour to South Africa with the orchestra.

What are your favourite pieces of music?
My favourite pieces of chamber music are the Janácek Violin Sonata and the Beethoven Quartet op.132. Favourite operas would be Janácek’s Jenufa and Strauss’ Arabella and my favourite orchestral works are Sinfonietta by Janácek and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances.

What is the worst thing that can happen during a performance?
Feeling ill.

What are your most valued possessions?
My family photographs.


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