Q&A: Clive Marriott

HF: How have your life experiences led you to become a teacher and value music education?

CM: As a child I drew much pleasure and strength from singing in choirs. It was during my time as a chorister in Crediton Parish Church Choir that I learned to play the organ and some rudimentary conducting. My choir mistress, the late Dorothy Sheppard, gave so much time to help me develop these lifelong skills; her kindness and dedication to enriching the lives of the children she worked with opened my eyes to the value of teaching as a vocation. I don't really remember a time when I didn't teach or want to teach, having experienced the powerful effect which music had on my own life. As the head of Salisbury Cathedral School, I draw such delight seeing my pupils flourish as they find their own voices, both literally and metaphorically.