Biography

Hailing from Northern Ireland Andrew’s musical journey began with a simple ultimatum. An old piano sat in the family home and as a young child Andrew found great joy in bashing on the keys. This led his mother to say he must learn the piano properly, or she would lock the piano. After his first lesson there was no turning back and a year later he had taken up the violin and joined local Education Authority orchestra; later pursuing the guitar, ukulele and E flat tenor horn.

Singing also became a crucial part of Andrew’s musical experience, quickly joining his secondary school choir which led to workshops and eventual membership in the National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland. Andrew also participated in school musicals playing the part of ‘The Beast’ in Beauty and the Beast, and ‘Mr Warbucks’ in Annie. 

Aged fourteen Andrew began to compose his own piano music and soon began to write for larger ensembles, commissioned by his orchestra to compose The Mournes in 2016. In 2017 the choir of Ballyclare High School commissioned an electro-choral fusion piece titled Don’t Cry. 

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Andrew enrolled in Royal Holloway University of London to read music in 2017, specialising in piano performance and composition. Whilst studying Andrew enjoyed membership in numerous vocal ensembles such as the Founder’s Choir of Royal Holloway, various octets and the National Youth Choir of Great Britain; he also served as a choral scholar in St. Mary’s Church Stoke D’Abernon (2019). After joining the octet ‘Voce Nova,’ Andrew began to perform professionally and soon became a sought after freelance singer, joining choirs around London for performance and session work. Alongside singing Andrew continued his love of playing in orchestras and joined the Royal Holloway Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, benefitting from side by side sessions with the London Mozart Players. 

 

In 2017 and 2018 Andrew participated in various musicals as a keyboardist and notably served as Assistant Music Director and principal pianist in a performance of HMS Pinafore. In 2019 Andrew took up the role of Musical Director and Conductor of Jane Holloway Choir alongside Emily Christian. There he was responsible for reorganising the choir and implementing the ‘student section leader scheme’ credited with transforming the choir’s musical quality and skill. Also in 2019 Andrew was approached with the role of Project Leader and Conductor, setting up the singing group Holloway Notes alongside Faye Tolliday. Holloway Notes is an award winning choir for adults with learning difficulties providing meaningful singing experiences in a safe environment, allowing the development of musical skills, social skills but also a therapeutic space to feel the wonder of communal music making. Andrew was approached for this project due to his previous volunteering experience working musically with adults in care homes who had severe learning difficulties or degenerative conditions. In 2022 Andrew was named a conducting scholar for Sing for Pleasure, where he hopes to develop his skills and further pursue choral opportunities for adults with learning difficulties.

 

Andrew continued to seek compositional opportunities; in 2018 the National Youth Choir of Great Britain workshopped his piece, Ani Ma’amin and a smaller ensemble within the choir premiered his setting of William Blake’s, The Lamb. Similarly, in 2019 members of the choir recorded his composition Empty Seats, a piece written in response and protest to the political stalemate and collapsed power sharing agreement in Northern Irish politics. Andrew was commissioned to compose music to accompany a Royal Holloway History Department advertisement (2019), and was also commissioned by the Choir of Royal Holloway to compose the piece, Music on Christmas Morning. In 2020 Andrew became composer in residence in the Royal Holloway Picture Gallery, which saw him team up with the Choir of Royal Holloway again to write Night, Most Glorious Night. Recent commissions include Slemish, (Commissioned by Giannis Koudounas for the ‘Bell Project’ 2021), and Just a call away, (the choir of Westminster Academy, 2022). 

 

Andrew also writes and performs songs written in a style more typical of popular music, regularly posting videos of performances on various online platforms and recently releasing a live EP titled, The Doagh Sessions (2021), which can be streamed on all music streaming platforms. 

 

From 2020-2022 Andrew was employed as the music teacher and subject lead in Westminster Academy as part of the Teach First scheme. Andrew currently holds the position of Assistant Director of Music at St. Anselm’s Church, Kennington, and regularly works as a freelance singer and conductor in London working with ensembles such as the Croydon Male Voice Choir; Andrew continues to teach piano, singing and violin. In September 2022 he enrolled at Guildhall School of Music and Drama studying for a master’s degree in Music Therapy and holds particular interests in the power of singing and also the role of semiotic associations of music and how these impact our memory. To follow Andrew's musical journey and hear any news, follow his various social media channels which can be found linked on this site.