About me

Hello! How are you? Come and find out more about me!

Short Biography: I am a pianist and violinist who enjoys both performing a teaching, as well as being a qualified solicitor and partner in the firm of Lindops. I have a dual career in law and music having graduated from Oxford University (St Peter's College) in 1999. Much of my time is dedicated to the art of piano and violin playing after having piano lessons with Lora Dimitrova, Chris Elton, Shalinee Jayatilaka and Elsie Brown; and violin lessons with Lydia Mordkovitch, Ruth Waterman, Keith Pascoe and Brenda Farrow. During my studies I also had chambermusic masterclasses with the Allegri String Quartet (at Oxford University), the American violist Nancy Uscher (in Hong Kong), and Baroque 'period playing' masterclasses with Gary Cooper (at Oxford University). I have performed in England, Hong Kong, Canada, Germany, Austria and the USA and also on both UK and Hong Kong television programmes. I am a trustee of the Southend Music Festival and the Freda Parry Scholarship Fund and have recently been made the Piano Convenor and String Secretary of the Southend Music Festival

A number of my students regularly perform and compete in both national competitions and local music festivals. If you are interested in having piano or violin lessons and chamber music, please see page 3 for my terms of business and page 4 to learn more about my students; or if you are also interested in participating/ performing in a Masterclass/ lecture by various concert pianists, violinists or chamber music groups then please contact me by e-mail.

At Oxford, my main tutor was Dr Nicholas Marston with whom I studied analysis, music history and musicology. My tutors for techniques/ harmony and composition were Dr Harry Diack Johnstone, David Goode and Stevie Farr. I studied Performance Practice with Dr Harry Diack Johnstone and Orchestration with Dr Jonathan Williams. I also attended lectures/ seminars with Prof Rheinhard Strohm on musicology and Drama per Musica; French Baroque Music with Dr Edward Higginbottom; Ethnomusicology with the late Dr Helene La Rue; Medieval Music with Dr Margaret Bent and Dr Liz Leach; Rennaisance Music with Dr Owen Rees and Dr Alex Lingus; Mozart's Chambermusic, Mozart in Vienna, The classical concerto and symphony with Dr Edward Olleson; Fuxian and Bachian Counterpoint with Dr. Susan Wollenberg; the Symphonies of Gustav Mahler with Dr Peter Franklin; 20th century music with the late Dr Robert Sherlaw Johnson.

After Oxford I went to BPP Law School in London to do my legal studies for 2 years. I qualified as a solicitor in 2004 and I am now a Partner at a high street law firm called Lindops. These are my interests:

• Playing the Pianoforte.

• Playing the Violin.

• The history and makers of the Pianoforte: (Stein; Stoddart; Zumpe; Clementi; Pleyel; Broadwood; Erard; Chappell; Steinway; Bosendorfer; Fazioli; Yamaha; Schimmel)

• The history and makers of the Violin (Gaspard da Salo; Paolo Maggini; Jacob Stainer; Andrea Amati, Brothers Amati (Antonius (Antonio) and Hieronymus (Girolamo)); Nicolo Amati; Antonio Stradivari; Ombono Stradivari; Francesco Stradivari; Paolo Stradivari, Andrea Guarneri; Pietro Guarneri; Guiseppe Bartolomeo Guarneri (detto 'del Gesu'); Ferdinand Gagliano, Nicola Gagliano, Gennaro Gagliano, Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Carlo Bergonzi, Mori da Costa, Tommaso Baliestri and lots more!

• Performance Practice of keyboard music, violin music, orchestral music and choral music in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

• Historical and famous violinists and pianists: My favourite violinists: Lydia Mordkovitch, Midori, Sarah Chang, Kyung Wha Chung, Cho-Liang Lin, Michael Rabin, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Salavatore Arcardo, Leonidas Kavakos, Mischa Elman, Fritz Kreisler,Yehudi Mennuhin, Nathan Milstein, Bronislaw Hubermann, Joseph Szigeti to name but a few
• My favourite pianists: Dinu Lipatti, Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Mitsuko Uchida, Martha Argerich, Glenn Gould, Radu Lupu, Artur Schnabel, Lora Dimitrova, Heinrich Neuhaus, Sergei Rachmaninov, Simon Barbare, Ronald Smith, Louis Kenter, Leopold Godowsky, Alfred Cortot, Gary Grafman, Slava Richter, Mischa Levitzki amongst others.

• Renaissance Music - vocal and instrumental - Dufay; Josquin de Prez, Ockeghem

• Baroque Music - instrumental, opera, sacred music - JS Bach; Antonio Vivaldi; Jean Phillipe Rameau; Torelli; Telemann; Corelli; Handel; Vitali; Thomas Arne.

• Rococo Music, Empfinsammer Stil, The Galant Style - Instrumental & Vocal; - Domenico Scarlatti; CPE Bach; Stamitz; Paradies; JC Bach; JCF Bach;

• Classical Music - instrumental, opera, sacred music, orchestral - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven; JN Hummel; L Boccherini; James Hook; Jan Dussek; Matthew Camidge; Stephen Storace; Muzio Clementi; Johann Cramer

• Romantic Music - instrumental, opera and orchestral - Johannes Brahms; Felix Mendelssohn; Robert Schumann; Clara Schumann (ne Wieck); Joseph Joachim; Pytor Tchaikovsky; Max Bruch; Anton Dvorak; Franz Schubert; Pablo de Sarasate; Nicolo Paganini; Giuseppe Verdi; Ignaz Moscheles; Richard Wagner; Frederic Chopin; Ferenc (Franz) Liszt; Louis Gottschalk; Adolf von Henselt; William Sterndale Bennett; Luigi Cherubini; Bizet, Max Reger; Gustav Mahler; Jules Massenet; Camille Saint-Saens; Moritz Moszkowski; Felix Blumenfeld; Caesar Cui; Anton Rubinstein; Sergei Liapunov; OttokarNovacek; Charles-Valentin Alkan; Bendrich Smentena; Carl Tausig; Carl Czerny; Johann Frederic Burgmuller; Henri Herz; Sigismond Thalberg; Frederick Kalkbrenner; Eugen d'Albert; John Field; Stephen Heller; Cornelius Gurlitt; Emil von Sauer; Theodor Leschetizky; Daniel Steibelt; Franz Behr; Alexis de Castillon.

• Impressionism in Music - Claude Debussy; Maurice Ravel

• Modern - 20th Century Music - Bela Bartok Shostakovitch, Alberto Ginastera; Dimitri Kabalevesky; Aram Katchaturian; Alexander Glazunov; Sergei Prokofiev; Villa Lobos; Jean Sibelius; Ralph Vaughan Williams; Sir Michael Tippett; Gerald Finzi; Sergei Rachmaninov; Samuel Barber, Lennie Bernstein; Sir Edward Elgar; Fritz Kreisler; Richard Strauss

• Chinese music & Chinese Opera. I think you have to have an understanding of the Chinese culture to appreciate it, otherwise it sounds like a din and cats miaowing to Western ears

• Pop Music - occasionally this is acceptable on the ears and senses, but I don't like the head banging aural assaults of some so-called musicians - ouch!

• Film Music and Japanese Anime and Manga music. There are some very nice arrangements for piano

• My Teddy Bear Collection: I collect vintage teddybears by Steiff, Farnell and Bing amongst others but used to collect limited edition teddybears by Steiff, Steiner, Hermann, Hermann-Spielwaren, Merrythought, Deans, Deb Canham, Jennie Sharman-Cox (Mister Bear), Anita Hill, Victoria Allum (Humble Crumble Bears), Stacey Lee Terry (Bo Bears), Robin Rive, R. John Wright, Rotraud Lubecke (Ro Lu Teddybarren Design), Ingrid Schmid (Bear n Company), Paula Strethill-Smith (Schultz Characters), Kathy Wallace (Stier Bears), Marjan Jorritsma (Tonni Bears), Maureen Batt (Mawspaws bears), Lexie Haworth (Bears from Haworth Cottage) Amy Goodrich (Portobello bears), Anna Hoo, Jo-anne Pennick (Jo-Anne Bears), Liz Wiltshire (Forget Me Not Bears), Dany Melse (Dany Baren), Brigitte Smtih (Pawtrait Bears), Puzzlebears, LJ Bears, Aurora Handcraft, Stuffed Animal House (Canada), Crown Worldwide Group (Hong Kong).

• The Law - Civil and Criminal Litigation; Private Client - Wills & Probate; Residential & Commercial Conveyancing; Family Law - Divorce, Ancillary Relief and Children; Contract law; Tort; Criminal law; Constitutional & Administrative Law; Immigration Law; European Law; Revenue Law; International Law; Human Rights;

• The Theatre - plays by Shakespeare; Marlow (I have more reading to do)

• History - Chinese, European; Russian; Ancient Civilisations of Egypt, Greece, Rome.

• Sports: Swimming, Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis. I hate football, rugby and hockey, i.e. the sports i had to do at school as I didn't want to get squashed or wacked with the hockey stick!. I am also hopeless at cross country running - i always came last!

• Languages that speak or I like and dabble in (i.e. try to learn): English, Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese.

• Cuisine/ Food: Chinese food (of course: Cantonese, Shanghai, Chiu Chow, Peking, Hunan); Korean; Japanese; Vietnamese; Thai; Italian; French; Spanish; Portugese; Turkish. Foods that I would like to try: Russian, Scandanvian, Indonesian. I Love ice cream! I would like to try the turkish elastic ice cream!

  
  Music is the most important thing in my life, and if I have any spare time when I am not being a solicitor or teaching, then I devote this time to practise and performance. For music that I am currently playing, please have a look at my musical diaries. I also really enjoy listening and watching people perform. Have a look at my record collection page

  
  Places where I have performed:

• Hong Kong City Hall, Hong Kong
• Sha Tin Town Hall, Hong Kong
• Koln Cathedral, Germany
• Munster Town Hall, Germany
• Churches in Salzburg and Innsbruck, Austria
• Llangollen International Musical Eisteddford, Wales
• The Minoru Chapel, Richmond,Vancouver, BC, Canada
• San Francisco, USA
• Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford
• Jacqueline du Pre Building, St Hildas, Oxford
• The Holywell Music Room, Oxford
• The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford
• The Dennis Arnold Hall, Faculty of Music, Oxford
• St Peter's College Chapel and music room, Oxford
• Exeter College Chapel, Oxford
• The Plaza Centre, Southchurch, Southend on Sea, Essex
• The Civic Centre, Southend on Sea, Essex
• St Mary's Church Prittlewell, Southend on Sea, Essex
• Thorpe Bay and Shoeburyness Baptist Church,Southend on Sea, Essex
• St Augustines Church, Thorpe Bay,Southend on Sea, Essex
• Chelmsford Cathedral, Chelmsford, Essex
• Crowstone United Reform Church, Westcliff on Sea, Essex
• St Margarets Church, Leigh on Sea
• St Nicholas's church Great Wakering, Essex
• St Nicholas Church Canewdon, Essex
• Christchurch, Latchingdon, Essex
• Bromley Youth Music Centre, Kent
• Sosipiro piano centre, Biggin Hill, Kent

  
  If you share any of my hobbies or interests please e-mail me for a chat.