John lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and daughter. He teaches music at Magdalen College School [MCS], Oxford, where he has specific responsibility for managing the 40+ team of instrumental music teachers, overseeing the scheduling of music lessons and allocation of pupils to teachers, booking and organising ABRSM and Trinity Music exams, all alongside the usual teaching commitments that one would expect for KS3 - KS5 education. He has thorough knowledge of the A Level and GCSE Edexcel curriculae, loves conducting a variety of ensembles both instrumental and choral, and specialises in teaching composition.

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A lasting interest in composition for John was sparked by the experience of being a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral as a child; he was exposed to a variety of styles and composers under the leadership of Dr David Flood, and developed a strong 'inner ear' whilst experimenting with his very first forays into writing his own music. He subsequently went on to study composition at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama whilst at secondary school, under the thoughtful and encouraging guidance of Jeffery Wilson, and took Techniques of Composition and Orchestration whilst studying as an undergraduate in Musicology at the University of Oxford. 

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John has always loved performing as a violinist, having taken the instrument very seriously and studied under Prof. Sergei Fatkulin in Madrid. He enjoys playing with a number of semi-professional ensembles in the Oxford area at present. Before moving to Malaysia to take the Director of Music post at Epsom College's sister school in Bandar Enstek, he worked frequently as a chamber musician, performing up and down the UK with ensembles and bands as a violinist, violist and jazz pianist.

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Since starting work at MCS in 2019, John has refocussed on composition, taking delight in co-writing two new musicals with Alex Thomas ('Just Leave it to Puck' and 'The Hobbit'), a growing selection of Christmas carols, a song-cycle for Primary School children as part of an outreach project, and even writing theme music for a Podcast (Alan Renwick's Uncovering Politics in partnership with UCL). He has had the great privilege of hearing many of his creations performed by the charming and talented pupils and colleagues he works with, and looks forward to writing even more in years to come.