[2] Educated at Worth and the Royal College of Music, he gave his professional debut recital at the Purcell Room in London in 1972.
[4] He taught himself mathematics, published many research articles,[5] gave lectures at leading universities including Imperial College London, and in 1996 was awarded a doctorate by Liverpool University for his work in number theory (which includes pioneering studies on Beatty sequences) and probability.
Abercrombie married Barbara Dix,[6] a British mezzo-soprano, whom he met at Glyndebourne whilst working as a répétiteur.
A number of their former pupils have gone on to have solo careers including Philip Howard, Andrew Slater and Rosa Mannion.
[7] Previous finalists have included Alfie Boe, David Horne, Freddy Kempf, Franzita Whelan and Andrew Sritheran.