Who Wrote This?
Who Wrote This?

Charles Robert Hayden-Gilbert was born in Birmingham, U.K. in 1946 and started his piano studies at the age of 3, violin at the age of 11, and voice at the age of 16, acquiring Absolute Pitch in the process. He performed a Mozart Piano Concerto at the age of 13, became the youngest ever member of the Royal Ballet School's Pool of Pianists, and at 18, was awarded a scholarship by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music to study Singing at the Royal College of Music.

He studied at the Royal College of Music, London, where his main studies were Piano and Voice (double first study) and Harmony and Counterpoint (second study), followed by post-graduate studies in education at Reading University.

Whilst at Reading University, he wrote the music to "Search For Santa" a children's musical which was produced at the King's Theatre in Portsmouth, UK, in November 1968, since which time it has been lost. He has since engaged in an exceptionally wide range of musical activities, as a professional singer, professional accompanist and continuo player, professional jazz pianist, director of orchestras and bands, producer of radio programmes and recordings, in addition to teaching in England, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

He is an Associate of the Royal College of Music, Graduate of the Royal Schools of Music, holds a Diploma in Education from Reading University and a Master of Arts in Education from Michigan State University. He is also a member of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters as well as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He has a biographical record in the millennium edition of "Baron's Who's Who Of The World" and the "International Who's Who of Music and Musicians."

In June 2002, he retired from being Director of High School Instrumental Music at International School Bangkok, where he directed Beginning, Intermediate Band, Concert Band, Advanced Strings and the school's top Choir, Choral Ensemble (2000-1), in order to pursue professional music making. He also taught Music Technology and Composition and was advisor to ISB for Pianoforte, Strings, Wind Instruments and Chorus for the Interscholastic Association of South Asian Schools. In the 2000/2001 academic year, he was also Choral Director of the school's top performing choral group, for whom he arranged many choral pieces. The Choir accompanied by the String Ensemble opened four international conferences for the U.N. in Bangkok. His compositions and arrangements are performed all over the world.

In July 2001, he attended an international conducting masterclass in St. Petersburg, where he studied the conducting style of Musin, and conducted the Mussorgsky Symphony Orchestra in Rossini's "La Centenerola" overture in the culminating concert. He attended the same masterclass in July 2002 and conducted the Hermitage Symphony Orchestra in J. Strauss's "Overture to "Die Fledermaus".
To contact the author, send an e-mail to iBegin@original-works.co.uk