+ What I can teach you?

I teach violin, viola, ukulele and music theory to all ages and stages of learner. I enjoy working with people who think and learn a little differently. How we experience and interact with music is so random, so perfectly idiosyncratic. I think this is rather wonderful.

+ My teaching style

The primary aim of my teaching is to build an enthusiasm for music on the learner’s terms. That means discovering what the student enjoys – both listening and playing-wise – and then working from there. I look to pass on tools and strategies which turn practising and performing into fun and enjoyable experiences.

+ My first significant musical moment

My dad performed and broadcast as part of a traditional Irish group called The Pride of Erin Ceilidh Band. They worked professionally through the 60s, 70s and 80s. The fiddler in that band, Charlie Montgomery, would tap his foot – well, stamp it actually – really loudly when he played. During band rehearsals, I’d sit under the grand piano at home (out of the way of the foot) totally enraptured, watching Charlie’s fingers fly.

+ Most enduring influence

My amazing family is my most enduring influence. I’m the youngest of five kids and my older siblings are all mad on music. Back in the 80s they'd play me everything they were into - from Bach and Bartok, Kraftwerk to Grandmaster Flash, Coltrane, Weather Report, Hunters & Collectors, even early (post-punk) Sinead O’Connor. Dad and mum were super-supportive, with Dad encouraging any kind of music-related activity. One of my first violin teachers, Anthony Hollows (cousin of Fred and just as charismatic), gave me a love and respect for every element of classical music through his playing and irresistible musical stories. Now, it is my children who wake me up (sometimes literally) to different ways of engaging with music. At least once a week, something they do, say, or play inspires a new line of musical thought.

+ Most thrilling gig I've played

There’ve been a few that have been right up there – like playing Handel’s compositions in the room where he wrote them, or being part of the massive string section for the UK revival tour of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds (with Jeff conducting). Last time I got major goose bumps was when I was playing with my long-time musical friends in The Black Quartet for a funeral (bit dark, I know…). The deceased wasn’t that old and his wife had said that he’d always wished they could’ve had a string quartet play classic rock tunes at their wedding. It could’ve been the charged emotional atmosphere, but we played that day with a combined feeling and expression that only comes along very rarely. We didn’t speak after the gig, we just had a big group hug. Later, we spoke about how lucky we'd all felt to play great music, to play it with good friends, and how important it is for everyone (performers and listeners) that we play as much as we can.

+ Who I’d most like to jam with

Okay, to geek out a bit... I’d love to play in a quartet with the late Norbert Brainin – the amazing first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet. His undeniable approach to the violin, his tasteful phrasing, incredible hair and massively protruding gut – what’s not to like?! The dudes from TwoSet Violin: they look like they’d be a scream to blast through some chamber music with – over a bottle or two, of course!

+ Fave YouTube clip

Just one? No way! Here are four.

• Steve Reich, Piano Phase, as played by one person. Incredible control over mind and limb…
• Ella Fitzgerald, forgetting the lyrics, letting it all go and taking a classic tune to a whole ‘nuther level in Berlin:
• This was my introduction as a young fella to both James Brown and Gospel Music. It was a potent mix – I couldn’t watch this without getting up and dancing. Something about JB’s vocal, and that unbelievable power in the choir and organ. Still gets me. Ouch!
• This performance from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall back in 2007 – launching the amazing, divisive, inspiring and ultimately flawed El Sistema music education programme into the global scene. Many imitations sprung up around the world in the wake of this performance alone, including New Zealand’s own Sistema Aotearoa.