Our Instrumental Teachers
We have dedicated instrumental teachers ready to teach you one to one!
We cater to a wide range of musical instruments and voice. It is ideal for beginners to try a new instrument at an affordable price and for more advanced players to continue learning and practice new techniques. Our individual lessons will allow pupils to make significant progress and benefit from 1:1 specialist tuition.
Our Teachers:
| Teachers Name | Instrument(s) Taught |
| Patrick Barrett | Conducting and Solfah |
| Lucy Clarke | Double Bass/Electric Bass and Tuba |
| Tom Gardner | Trumpet |
| Jamie Howell | Guitar, Bass Guitar |
| Dae Lee | Percussion |
| Niki Moosavi | Cello |
| Damon Oliver | Saxophone, Clarinet and Flute |
| David Stewart | Singing |
| Jennifer White | Piano |
| Olivia Ziani | Violin |
More about our teachers:
Patrick Barrett:
Patrick Barrett is an Irish conductor based in London specialising in choral music and opera. He is currently Chorus Director of the RSNO’s Junior Choruses and Conductor of Farnham Youth Choir’s Junior Choir and University of Reading’s Chamber Choir. He also regularly works as an Assistant Conductor for the National Children’s Choir, a Musicianship Tutor with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and conducts a number of other ensembles in London and the South East. Previous roles include Conductor of both the University of Birmingham’s Women’s Choir and Brockham Choral Society, Guest Chorus Master for the CBSO Children’s Chorus under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and preparing the Royal Opera House Youth Opera Company for mainstage performances of Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel. He is looking forward to working with University of Reading Music members interested in Conducting.
Lucy Clarke:
Lucy has been playing music since the age of 6 years old when she first picked up the guitar in primary school. Very soon after picking up the guitar, she then joined the school rock band and moved to playing bass due to the shortage of a bass player. Little did she know that this was to be the start of her love for the bass guitar which has led her to playing in many ensembles in different genres of music from pop, classical, funk, rock and her main genre, jazz. As well as playing guitar and bass guitar, Lucy took up the tuba in 2016 and has had the opportunity to play in orchestras, concert bands and jazz bands on the tuba. Since starting Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Lucy has primarily focussed on jazz double bass, however also frequently gigs and practises electric bass as well.
Tom Gardner:
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Tom is a trumpet player, composer and arranger with experiences in a variety of musical areas, from small group jazz and big bands, to pop work, musicals and more, and has performed around the world. Tom has performed with groups such as the BBC Big Band, The London Jazz Orchestra, Alex Mendham & His Orchestra, Hackney Colliery Band and Nim Quartet. Artists Tom has performed with include: Gary Barlow and Paloma Faith. Before studying at the Academy on the Jazz degree course, Tom previously studied there on the Junior Jazz course, as well as at The Purcell School.
Jamie Howell:
Jamie Howell is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator based in the South of the UK. With a broad stylistic palette covering jazz, funk, rock, pop, and experimental music, his guitar playing has been heard on stages across the UK and Hungary, as well as on numerous recordings . He has a portfolio of compositions which includes jazz tunes and contemporary experimental pieces, and he has been awarded a scholarship to study a PhD in composition at the University of Southampton. As an educator, he previously ran a jazz ensemble at the University of Reading and has taught guitar for many years.
Dae Lee:
Having completed studies in Music at The University of Bristol, Dae currently works as a freelance drummer and percussionist. Under the tutelage of Clark Tracey, Mike Osborne, and John O’Hara, he has been exposed to an extensive range of styles including big band, jazz/pop/soul, orchestral, pit and 4 mallet tuned percussion. Dae is the University of Reading Music Big Band Director and is really excited to teach percussion this academic year.
Niki Moosavi:
Niki Moosavi is an award-winning cellist and has performed at distinguished venues such as Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Cadogan Hall. She studied at the Purcell School for Young Musicians and Royal College of Music. Niki is passionate about education and outreach, having delivered workshops at schools across the world, from Norfolk to Mauritius, and has taught and mentored at the Tri-borough Music Hub and Langley Hall Music Academy. As well as her teaching and performance work, Niki is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion in music. She was the Leader of the Undergraduates Group for the Equality Diversity and Inclusion in Music Studies network (EDIMS) and held the position of Diversity Officer for the Students’ Union at the Royal College of Music. She has been integral to changes in RCM’s curriculum and artistic programming and organised the first ever concert of works by Black Composers at the Royal College of Music in October 2020.
Damon Oliver:
Known throughout the UK for his versatility as a musician, Damon is saxophonist, clarinettist and flautist whose career has seen him work with a variety of artists and ensembles. From the BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra through to popular artists like Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy) and ska band The Dualers, Damon loves working in music in every capacity! Having been teaching in schools and privately for many years, Damon is really excited to step into the next chapter of his teaching career working at Reading University, mentoring his students with everything from classical performance to jazz and improvisation.
David Stuart:
David graduated with a First class degree in music from New College, Oxford University as a choral scholar of the choir. After a Masters in Performance at the Guildhall, London, he gained a MSt. in Musicology at Oxford (Distinction), and was granted a scholarship for Doctoral research. He has tutored undergraduates at Oxford University in music history and collaborated in Oxford-Princeton research into English opera, co-authoring a resulting publication.
As a professional baritone he has sung roles in opera and oratorio spanning five centuries and chorus at Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, Paris Opéra Comique and Garsington Opera. He performs with world-leading choirs including the Monteverdi Choir, Ex Cathedra and Armonico consort. He has made over 50 recordings, several award-winning, and appears on film and TV – most recently Mission Impossible 6. In 2019-20 performance locations included New York, Chicago, Milan and Shanghai and in 2021-22 he is working with the orchestras of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle and Berlin Philharmonic.
Jennifer White:
Jennifer graduated with First Class Honours in Music before completing a master’s degree at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She was subsequently awarded a Countess of Munster Music Scholarship to further her postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music. She has had a varied performing and teaching career working in dance, education, and television. Jennifer has appeared on Channel 4 and has worked for the English National Ballet and the Royal Academy of Dance.
She has performed at numerous concerts venues across the UK, both as a soloist and accompanist, including St. John’s Smith Square, the Adrian Boult Hall, and St. David’s Hall. She has also participated in masterclasses for Peter Donohoe, Gordon Fergus-Thompson and Pierre Laurent-Aimard. Jennifer now accompanies both of the UoR Music choirs and is taking on new piano students each academic term.
Olivia Ziani:
Olivia began playing the violin aged 6 and graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2021 with first-class honours, where she studied under the tutelage of Yossi Zivoni as a Musicians’ Company Lambert Scholar, and is now continuing her studies there on the Master of Performance programme. Olivia enjoys playing and performing in a variety of settings as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral violinist. As a soloist, she has performed in the UK, Algeria and Germany, and in venues including St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’s Church Piccadilly, St John’s Church Waterloo and the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Alongside her classical studies, Olivia appears frequently as a television and music video violinist crossing over to the pop genre, having worked professionally on The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and Tonight with Target. Olivia is looking forward to teaching Violin this academic year and sharing her passion for the instrument.