1. What is your earliest memory of music in your life?
Listening to Noel Harrison singing The Windmills of Your Mind on the radio in the late 1960s. This introduced me to the music of Michel Legrand (although I did not realise that at the tender age of five). I still adore his music - listen to I Will Wait For You from the film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - that's another banger. Noel Harrison (son of Rex Harrison) was not the best of singers.
2. What was your first 'public performance' of music/ drama/ or both?
Probably performing as one of the brothers in Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat when I was at school.
3. Who is your favourite composer/ songwriter, and why?
That’s a difficult question. It really depends on how I’m feeling. Songwriter - Regina Spektor, a Russian/American singer, is an accomplished writer of lyrics and that woman can bang out a good tune. She also takes risks with her voice which adds sparkle to her songs. Try her songs New Year, Eet and Samson for a good introduction.
Composer - as an organist, I’m a big fan of Herbert Howells. Lockdown introduced me to the music of the Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds - he wrote the theme music to Broadchurch. It’s a little minimalist for some (my wife in particular who hates it) but for me, it is really beautiful.
4. What composition/ piece/ song would you recommend to a friend to brighten up their day?
One Day Like This by Elbow. I love the counterpoint in the song, the string arrangement and think this would make a good wedding song.
Also, as a learner of the Italian language (although this is not a pre-requisite), Volare by Domenico Modugno is pure sunshine. I’ve experimented on various sad adults - singing the Italian lyrics to a recording of the song - and have had a 100% success rate.
5. Do you have a musical 'claim to fame'?
I achieved 139 marks out of 150 to gain a distinction in passing my Grade 8 organ. And this was after registering the organ wrong for my first piece and having to start again.