Information About Oliver - Lambeth teacher

Personal Description:

I was educated at Eton College and Church, Oxford, before undertaking a law conversion course at Oxford Brookes and BPP Law School, London. My A levels were in Ancient History, History of Art, German and Italian (straight As) and my undergraduate degree was in Music (2:1).

My interest in music is mainly vocal and orchestral; at university I came first in my year for Choral Studies and Orchestration. In addition to this I did particularly well in early history and analysis.

Throughout my schooling I have been an active musician. The voice is my principle instrument, but I have experience in piano and cello. I held music scholarships as a chorister at Chichester Cathedral, head chorister at Eton and choral scholar at Oxford. Whilst at school I accompanied my contemporaries in competitions and afterwards I spent a gap year studying cello in Germany (Bremen).

Since university I have sung freelance and as a Lay Clerk at Church, Oxford. I moved to London in September and have obtained a range of professional work… Besides music, I enjoy learning and speaking modern languages, travelling, visiting art exhibitions and playing squash. I am studying law and will commence training as a commercial solicitor in 2011.

Tutoring Experience:

I taught myself Grades 6, 7 and 8 in Music Theory to get into Oxford University and this made me think about music from the perspectives of teacher and pupil.

My musical experience has given me confidence in presenting myself to others and the tutorial system at Oxford taught me to think quickly on my feet and argue a case. Since then, the law conversion course has given me an opportunity to develop my research and organisation skills.

Tutoring Approach:

My attitude to learning and teaching is influenced strongly by my experience as a dyslexic student. Having benefitted from a range of teaching methods, I would strike a balance between spoon-feeding and encouraging independent thought.

The way I was taught music theory was deeply uninspiring and I have always thought that more people could appreciate classical music if they were given a better chance from the outset. As a teacher I would try to make theory fun and my approach would be to contextualise it through a variety of mediums; for example, I would supplement teaching the nitty gritty with listening to music and looking at scores.

I am naturally enthusiastic and absolutely passionate about music and I think this would help spark the interest of my pupils.