About
Lyric Bass
Singing Teacher
Music Psychologist
My interest in music started as a young treble chorister and soloist with the Knabenkantorei Basel and at the Opernhaus Basel. I was subsequently awarded a music scholarship to Sevenoaks School (clarinet) before reading for a bachelor's degree in music and music composition at the University of Birmingham. Later I studied for a postgraduate diploma in vocal and opera studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, and continued [2013-2020] my professional vocal development privately with Michelle Wegwart (Opera National de Paris). I also hold a recital diploma in piano performance (ATCL) and am currently bassoonist for Cambridge Windband. As a professional bass/bass-baritone I have worked variously with Opera North, Pinchgut Opera, Cantillation Choir, Co-Opera, Elemental Opera, Saint Mary’s Cathedral, and as a freelance soloist for numerous choral societies. A full list of major works performed is posted here on the performance page together with some brief audio samples.
In parallel to my performance work I have also persued academic interests in music psychology and biological anthropology. At the University of Cambridge I completed an MPhil (1st) at the Centre for Music and Science (CMS) and a research PhD project at the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies (LCHES) supported by a Cambridge University Millennium Scholarship. In conjunction with preparing my PhD thesis I acted as author, peer reviewer, and/or editor for MIT Press, Music Perception, Psychology of Music, Musicae Scientiae, Science and Music, Journal of Human Evolution, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge Scholars Publishing. A brief description of my work on music’s evolutionary “design features” is given here on the research page together with proposals for a new experimental paradigm on “sensorimotor harmonisation”. A full list of publications and corresponding pdf files are also available.