There was a strong musical tradition in Stoker's family, and he showed an early aptitude, intrigued by the piano keyboard as soon as he was tall enough to reach it.

[4] He won several prizes at the RAM, culminating in the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 1962, which took him to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger.

His chamber and instrumental music includes three each of string quartets, piano trios and violin sonatas.

[7][8] He edited Composer magazine between 1969 and 1980, and wrote entries on eight musicians for the Oxford DNB: Sir Thomas Armstrong, Arthur Benjamin, Alan Bush, Janet Craxton, Eric Fenby, Anthony Milner, Robert Simpson and Harold Truscott.

In later years he enjoyed acting in films and TV - he appeared in over 100 productions, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Dark Shadows, Maleficent, Hercules (as body double for John Hurt), Last Christmas and MotherFatherSon.