I am an editor, proofreader and writer, specialising in classical music. I edited the lists of castaways’ choices in Sue Lawley’s Desert Island Discussions (Hodder & Stoughton, 1990) and was one of a small team proofreading The Viking Opera Guide (ed. Amanda Holden, Penguin, 1993). Other books with which I have been involved include Ronald Taylor’s Kurt Weill: Composer in a Divided World (Northeastern University Press, 1992), David Matthews’s Britten (Haus Publishing, 2003), Tully Potter’s 1300-page biography of violinist and composer Adolf Busch, Adolf Busch: The Life of an Honest Musician (Toccata Press, 2010), and in 2012 I edited Christopher Dyment’s Toscanini in Britain (Boydell & Brewer). I also typed and edited Robert Ponsonby’s memoirs In and Out of Tune (Diadem Books, 2016).
In 2006 and 2007 I edited the programme book for the Cheltenham Music Festival, in 2009 making a lengthy appearance at the Edinburgh International Festival… as editor of the (c500) artist biographies, returning for more of the same both there and at the Brighton Festival in 2010. |
For more than 20 years I proofread the BBC Proms Guide and the individual concert programmes, to which for 14 seasons — from its inception in 1994 — I also contributed the popular ‘Previously at the Proms’ feature. I worked for BBC Music Magazine from its inaugural year (1992) until 2004 and have subedited magazines including The Strad and International Piano, as well as proofreading About the House/Royal Opera House Magazine (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) from 2003 till 2020. In summer 2015 I was appointed proofreader to Opera magazine, and in 2021 I made my Glyndebourne debut — proofreading the summer Festival and autumn Tour programme books.
Other recent and current work includes proofreading various publications for the Royal Academy of Music, the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, and many books in the ‘Tales of Ramion’ series by Frank Hinks, QC. When not editing, reading or writing about music, I am usually to be found in concert halls listening to it! |
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