Information About Derek - Edinburgh teacher -

(4 reviews)

Personal Description:

Alongside my career as an educator, I have been self-employed variously as composer, conductor, musical director and record producer for a range of international clients, including The University of Edinburgh and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, EMI Music, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Caroline O'Connor, Sir Robert Helpmann, Sir Howard Morrison, Torvill & Dean. My work has featured in performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Royal Albert Hall and Garrick Theatre (London), Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Hamer Hall (Australia), the Australian Embassy (New York), Sala Accademica di Santa Cecilia (Rome) and Edinburgh University.

I have been orchestrator, associate composer and musician with 27 IMDb credits for feature films, television documentaries, mini-series. I have 33 Discogs album credits. and have been a frequent conductor of studio orchestras, including Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the feature film Frauds. Many of the media to which I have contributed have themselves achieved critical and popular acclaim, including BAFTA Award (The Making of Longbird), Best Film Score (Crush), an Oscar (The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert), Triple Platinum record sales (Come In Spinner - ABC) and an Australian Aria Award nomination (Cash Landing – EMI Music).

Stars in films I have orchestrated include Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Phil Collins, Josephine Byrnes, Lee Majors, Jack Scalia, Bob Peck, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp. I worked with Torvill & Dean as arranger and pianist for their album Here We Stand. I have performed extensively as keyboardist, including over 400 performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber's show Cats (Really Useful Theatre Company) and Phantom of the Opera (Cameron Mackintosh Limited), and as musical director for independent productions.

My most recent commissions have been to arrange, conduct, mix and master the vocal and orchestral music for the Glenfiddich 21yo Whisky ad campaign, so far reaching 1.7 million hits, viewable on my YouTube channel below, a new trio for the Hindemith Trio in Parma, Italy, and to score the music for Ruaridh M Turner's multi award winning short thriller, 'The Beast in the Storm'. My current commissions are to compose a new 4 movement symphony for The Orchestra of the Canongait in Scotland

I have the digital technology necessary to work in-house in my private studio in Edinburgh's Old Town, and at The University of Edinburgh studios, as well as with live ensembles of any size as Arranger, Conductor or Producer. Testimonials in all these fields are available on request.

Services available are listed on my website.

Tutoring Experience:

2007- present The University Of Edinburgh [Old College, South Bridge EH8 9YL]
- Lecturer, Tutor, Examiner (Associated Staff)
• Lecturing, Tutoring, Examining MMus and 3rd year BMus undergraduates in Orchestration, Composition and Screen Composition

1986-2006 NSW Department Of Education & Training [GPO Box 33, Sydney 2001, Australia]
Teacher of Music, Software Design & Development, Information Processes & Technology, Computing

1989-2006 NSW Board Of Studies [117 Clarence Street, Sydney 2000 Australia]
- Higher School Certificate (HSC) Music Examiner & Computing Studies Advisor
• Conducting live music performance examinations for the Higher School Certificate examinations
• Examiner for Composition & Computing Studies examination candidates for the Higher School Certificate

1995-2006 Sydney Community College [2A Perry Street, Lilyfield 2004, Australia]
- Lecturer – Steinberg Training Centre (part time) – Authorised Trainer
• Designing and delivering a range of courses in Music Technology

1984 Progeni Systems Ltd/Polycorp secondment [14-18 Pretoria Street, Lower Hutt 5011, New Zealand]
Computer Programmer of educational software for New Zealand schools

1979-1985 New Zealand Ministry Of Education [PO Box 1666 Wellington 6140]
- Teacher of Music, English and Computer Awareness

1979 Waiariki Technical Institute [Mokoia Drive, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand]
- Lecturer – Theory of Music (part time)

1974-1978 New Zealand School Of Music Ltd [157 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010 *NB wound up in 1978]
- Founder / Director / Teacher

1973-1974 Auckland University Conservatorium Of Music [Private Bag 92019 Auckland 1142]
- Lecturer, Tutor & Examiner (part time) – Harmony & Aural Training

Tutoring Approach:

I specialise in advanced Classical and Jazz Piano, Composition and Arranging, as well as fundamentals of Theory of Music for students from ABRSM Grade 5 to Diploma level. I offer substantial discounts of up to 30% for families and for bundles of 5 or 10 lessons.

I have a well-equipped studio with a new grand piano as well as other keyboards and music tech gear, and teach both in-person for students living in Edinburgh, and online internationally. As many of my students are from Edinburgh university, where I also teach Orchestration and Screen Composition, daytime lessons can be flexible from week to week.

My classes are helpful to students seeking to pass the higher performance and theory grade examinations, as well as to university undergraduates seeking to fill knowledge gaps and to explore composition and orchestration in greater depth. Students I have taught invariably achieve excellent results, as high as 144/150 in recent ABRSM practical piano examinations, and as high as 100% in Theory of Music.

I also teach Music Technology, specialising in Cubase DAW as well as Sibelius and Dorico scorewriter applications.