John studied at the Watford School of Music and Trinity College of Music, London, and now teaches for both organisations. He subsequently studied in London and Cambridge with Stephen Cleobury and David Sanger, and in Paris with Marie-Claire Alain.
As a freelance organist, he has performed throughout Britain with concerts in such diverse places as St. Paul's Cathedral, Oxford and Cambridge Colleges, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Gaiety Theatre in the Isle of Man, and the northernmost Scottish islands. He has given recitals in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Holland, Norway and Switzerland and has made seven recital tours of the United States, performing in many of the major East Coast and Mid-west cities.
He has recorded for Priory Records on the organ at Robinson College, Cambridge, and at Hampstead Garden Suburb Free Church where he was organist for nearly eleven years.
John holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of East Anglia for a thesis on contemporary church music, and in 1994 completed an MA in Medieval Studies (a course which had no musical content whatever!). His academic work has recently included presentations and lectures for the Universities of Hull, Newcastle and Southampton on various aspects of church music.
Finchley Symphony Orchestra (Music Director: Christopher Stark, Leader: George Mattar) is a successful non-professional orchestra. It gives 5 - 6 high standard concerts a year, some of them jointly with Finchley Chamber Choir, and is constantly looking for new challenges and opportunities.
Known for many years as Finchley Chamber Orchestra, the orchestra recently changed its name to match the wide range of music it now performs - Baroque, Classical and large-scale Romantic works together with those of the 20th and 21st centuries.
FSO encourages young soloists, many (such as Tasmin Little and Valeriy Sokolov) achieving international status, and has collaborated with the Hastings Musical Festival and the North London Festival of Music and Dance. It also encourages and commissions works from young composers, most recently George Holloway in a joint project with FCC, which was broadcast on Radio 3, and award-winning local composer Richard Bullen.
