Andrew studied Viola and Piano at the Royal College of Music under Bernard Shore and Hilda Klein and studied conducting with John Russell and Sir Adrian Boult, gaining an ARCM and GRSM. He played viola for the Festival Ballet Orchestra and later joined the Iceland Chamber Music Players.
After taking a post-graduate teaching diploma, Andrew taught violin and viola in the North of England and then in the Midlands, also free-lancing as an orchestral viola player, and conductor including Songs of Praise and Sunday Half Hour for the BBC. For 21 years, he was on the staff of the National Children’s Orchestra as viola tutor and as one of the assistant conductors.
Andrew has now retired from the Staffordshire Performing Arts where he was Co-ordinator for the County Music School and staff mentor. Apart from conducting and free-lance playing, he is a Learning Advisor for the Musicians Union, a Trustee for Peak District Music Centres and a very active grandfather, leaving little time for his hobbies of gardening, cooking and car mechanics