My Background :

"The piano in our back room fascinated me. I enjoyed experimenting with the noises it produced. I drew sound pictures, created atmospheres or simply made-up musical stories. When my Granddad announced he was to take-up piano well into his sixties, as an enthusiastic six year old I asked my parents for lessons. Twenty-five years later the time has served to deepen my enthusiasm both for piano and the artistic pursuit, music itself.

Studying piano with the popular Dewsbury based teacher John Kinsley, I took all eight Associated Board exams between 1978_1990 before leaving to become a music undergraduate at the University of Nottingham from 1990-1993.During that initial period I had become interested in the violin which I played in the Dewsbury Music Centre orchestras of that time. Local teacher Kath Price taught me although Slaithwaite Philharmonic's leader Julie Edwards guided me through the later grades. Singing lessons followed as did a place in the Huddersfield Choral Youth Choir. Pipe Organ was another musical outlet under Batley Grammar School's Geoff Bellamy.

After graduating from Nottingham in 1993, my musical interests have continued to widen including a basic knowledge of guitar skills, electronic keyboard teaching, song arranging and recording techniques.

My Musical Convictions :

Music is an intrinsic part of the human experience. Linguists believe that our very first gurgling noises are more akin to song than speech whilst its religious, expressive and symbolic uses have proved an intrinsic foundation of all great civilisations. In our media saturated culture of today, Music's underpinning role as a means of communication, expression and source of identity is surely as significant as ever.Whilst studies clearly show playing a musical instrument improves Maths and English, learning the piano will also greatly expand the ability to express both individual experiences and those universal struggles common to all. Playing can be spiritual and life enhancing for people of all ages. " Owen.