John Byron

John Byron read music at Cambridge University and is active as pianist, composer and teacher.  He has been repetiteur of the Danesborough Chorus since 1989.  He studied piano with John Bigg and Renée Reznek and has recently continued his studies with Philip Fowke. 

In 1980 he was invited to participate in the Park Lane group series of concerts on the South Bank in London .  His concerto repertoire is substantial, including composers as diverse as Rachmaninov, Greig, Poulenc, Schumann, Gershwin, Beethoven, Mozart and Bartòk and last year he performed the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto with the Milton Keynes Sinfonia in the Milton Keynes Theatre. 

John has written a series of pieces for chorus and orchestra, which have been performed by the Royal Scottish Junior Chorus, the Milton Keynes Chorale, the Danesborough Chorus and the Open University Choir.  His composition for four performers at two pianos, Different Worlds, was premièred by Piano 40 in the Purcell Room in London and is shortly to be performed by them in the Royal Festival Hall.  In 2007 he was awarded a PhD from the University of Northampton; his research was on the music of the French composer Tristan Murail.