After gaining a place with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, with whom he performed the Mozart clarinet concerto at the age of 16, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music and then read Mathematics at Cambridge University, graduating in 1966.
Principal Clarinet positions include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 to 1978, London Sinfonietta (of which he was a founder member) from 1968 to 1983 and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields from 1976 to 1986.
During his time with the London Sinfonietta he collaborated with a variety of composers, including Boulez, Stockhausen, Birtwistle, Henze, Maxwell Davies, Goehr and Berio.
For the RCA he recorded Berio's Concertino, with the composer conducting, and gave the first performance of Henze's mini-concerto Miracle of the Rose, which was written for him to direct from the clarinet.
He has conducted the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, and the London Sinfonietta throughout Europe, as well as guest-conducting with orchestras in Scandinavia, Italy and the United States.