About me

I have spent my working life writing and talking about classical music. I also have a great passion for cinema and have delivered a number of short courses about American and British films.

I studied music at Edinburgh University (BMus, 2000) and at King’s College, London (MMus 2001, PhD 2005), where I achieved a doctorate on the operas of Francis Poulenc. I worked initially as a temporary lecturer at King’s College, London then for many years at The Red House in Aldeburgh - the former home of Benjamin Britten, now part of Britten Pears Arts. Here I gained valuable experience of working in and engaging with a heritage environment.

I give talks, write programme notes and chapters in books, curate exhibitions, make short films, and teach courses on a huge range of subjects: from twentieth-century women composers to the Coen Brothers!

If you want to find out how we can work together have a browse via the links above, or contact me directly.

Benjamin Britten

I worked for many years at Britten Pears Arts (formerly the Britten-Pears Foundation), programming events for the composer’s former home - The Red House - giving talks, and making and appearing in short films. I have also edited two books on Britten (see details here) and contributed several chapters to books on his life and work. Betwen 2020-21 I presented the From The Red House podcast series, exploring a wide variety of musical topics with a brilliant range of guests.

I’m hugely grateful to Britten Pears Arts for allowing me to embed some of the content I produced while working for them on this website. All Britten Pears Arts material is (c) Britten Pears Arts.