I have always loved teaching and have taught music to everyone from children in deaf and blind schools to post-graduate composition students. I am passionate about building confidence and creativity in my teaching.
Music education projects in over one hundred schools up and down the country have kept me busy over the past twenty-five years, as well teaching in Japan, the USA, Poland and other countries.
Rehearsing with Berwick Youth Orchestra, 1991
I have devised cross-arts projects with dancers, poets and visual artists that have involved visiting many students in different schools and colleges over a certain period, and then bringing them all together for celebratory performance and sharing events.
Often these projects have had an international exchange element, such as when I have helped to bring taiko drummers or butoh dancers from Japan to work in UK schools.
Young taiko drummer, Kyoto, Japan
However, I do particularly love teaching one-on-one and in this capacity I have taught all manner of musical instruments as well as composition, general musicianship, sound recording and other related topics.
Teaching in County Durham, 1994
Leading with the shakuhachi, Nicosia, Cyprus, 2004
I have been teaching shakuhachi for many years, and currently have several students up and down the country and also around the world that I am teaching via skype. It’s quite a good option as I often meet people on my travels who say they would love to take up the shakuhachi, but they usually don’t live close by in South Devon. Let me know if you are interested.
Adrian is one of the best teachers I have come across. He is able to renew student’s interest in music, and stimulate their process of self-discovery through music.
Barbara Stein – Director of East Asian Center, Long Island University, New York
He has an excellent spiritual understanding and a strong, deep passion for music. I believe his existence is the type of real cultural exchange that can lead to world peace.
Shakuhachi Master Yokoyama Katsuya
Adrian is a person of the greatest imagination, intelligence and seriousness of purpose, with an astonishing flair for the kinds of projects in which he has been involved.
Professor Eric . F. Clarke – University of Oxford
Adrian’s sessions on World Music and composition were inspirational. Headteachers and music teachers were extremely complimentary about Adrian’s delivery and process, and the outcomes were stunning.
John Harries – Head of Cornwall Music Service
Adrian brings a huge variety of musical influences into his composing and teaching, making his work very fresh and free from cliché but at the same time accessible. He is adept at pitching challenge at the right level to meet individual need, and teaches with confidence and grace.
Sue Hill – Artistic Director, The Eden Project, Cornwall