Site last updated Dec 2009
A Reading lad
I was born in Reading, a town between Oxford and London on the River Thames, and I went to school locally.

I started playing the piano when I was six and the clarinet when nine. I was in school music groups and played in a rock band called ‘Invasion’ when I was 13. We did covers of Beatles, Queen and Pink Floyd but mostly our own material. I wrote my own songs and sang them.

Peter
History studies
This has always been my passion and began out of a very personal involvement in the First World War at school through the poetry of Wilfred Owen and through activities such as ‘imagining yourself’ on the Western Front and writing diaries after being presented with detailed materials on the everyday life of a solider in the trenches. We took part in a play about the Great War called ‘And when they ask us’. This had a deep effect on me and an attachment and interest in the history of both World Wars that has remained with me always.

The college years
At eighteen I went to University College London and studied History, and then took a Masters in Modern History with a specialisation in the origins of the Second World War.

At college I was involved in various church groups. In 1987 I recorded an album of Christian songs called ‘Stand up and Sing’ which was sold in aid of a charity to bring fresh water to areas of Ghana in Africa. As part of the Methodist Youth Association I played some of these songs at Methodist Central Hall at an annual youth conference in 1988. Playing in front of 2000 people in such a charged atmosphere was an unforgettable experience.

Teaching English
When I left London I went abroad to France and then came back to the UK to take a certificate to teach English as a second language.  From teaching briefly in Sweden I returned to Oxford where I met my future wife Alessandra. She is Italian and I moved with her to Florence in 1993 where I have been living ever since.  
I first taught English in a town in Tuscany called Empoli. Since 1999 I have been teaching at the British Institute of Florence. 

The Little Prince
In 1994 I started to write a musical in English based on the story of ‘The Little Prince’ by the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery. I wrote 24 songs/pieces which I scored for piano, flute, clarinet, cello, guitar, drums and various voices. A full production of ‘The Prince and the Rose’ was performed for two nights in 1998 at the ‘Teatro Shalom’ in Empoli.  A year later in 1999 a revised production came to Florence to the British Institute Library for two performances. I hope to revive this production in a new form perhaps next year. 

Ndiawar and ‘Centro La Pira’ International School
In 2006 I started to work with Ndiawar Diagne, who comes from Senegal. We met through the ‘Centro La Pira’ International School.  It is not just an Italian language school but also a  focal meeting point for students and teachers from all over the world who seek and share the common goal of mutual understanding and co-operation in matters of faith and culture.

Since then we have been writing songs that express our mutual vision of  toleration and understanding between religions in the world and political and social unity in Africa . In  Senegal a majority of Muslims and a Christian minority live in close and great harmony and with a true spirit of mutual help and understanding. Ndiawar’s Muslim faith and my Christianity have led us to a joint exploration of the things that we have in common and that bind us together. ‘Stronger than the sun’ is a song we wrote together about the love of God which both Muslims and Christians revel in. This all pervading love is a shared experience and leads us to praise God for this gift of love that is ‘stronger than the sun’.

Peter and Ndiawar
Charity concerts
The culmination of this work came in the summer of 2007 when we worked together on an ambitious charity concert to raise funds to fight the severe Malaria problem in Senegal. The ‘Mille Zanzariere for Senegal’ (1000 Mosquito nets for Senegal) was a project sponsored by Centro La Pira and involved myself playing with a number of performers from Italy and England as well as Ndiawar.

Especially written for the occasion, ‘Safely Dream’, also the title of the concert, draws inspiration  from the hope to provide a safer environment for children who suffer from the lack of protection from mosquitos and therefore attack from Malaria infection. The concert raised 1000 euros which was enough to reach our target and provide the mosquito nets we aimed to buy.

Current and ongoing projects
I have been working for a while now on my own material for piano and voice.  I play gigs regularly in Florence at clubs such as ‘BeBop’ and ‘Porto di Mare’. I have also made a number of recordings. As well as my own songs I have collaborated with the New Renaissance Florence Film School. I have worked with a number of its up and coming students and provided soundtracks for their short films.  Since 2007 I have made different recordings of my songs and have played my material frequently in various clubs in Florence.

Music and the Arsenal
My passion is music - of all kinds. My influences can be found at the ‘visions’ page link. I love going to concerts whenever I can and love theatre and cinema too. My main hobbies are swimming (when I get the time), walking in the country and I have a longstanding  relationship with Arsenal Football Club. A passionate supporter and sufferer since 1979!  I of course support AC Fiorentina here in my town of adoption – Florence.

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