Born in South Africa, John read Economics at University and now plays the major rôle in the sales, marketing, promoting and producing of First Act Opera International. To date he has produced and directed over 1000 performances all over the world. Coming to full time professional performing later than most of his colleagues, he successfully pursued careers that range from flying areoplanes and crewing an ocean going sailing boat to loss adjuster and trainer of the United Kingdom Police Force; he considers this variety of experience to be invaluable in opera production. His accessible presenting style is much in demand both in England and overseas. Preferring the comic and villainous to the straight, he has now sung or acted or broadcast for his supper in a great variety of guises. As a Flanders and Swann supporter he has had Prime Minister John Major sing the Hippopotamus song with him!! More seriously he played the narrator Zuniga in the company's shortened version of Carmen, a rôle he performed during First Act Opera's Hong Kong tour last September and in the Covent Garden Festival. He has also presented and sung at events in Sweden, Spain, France and the Bahamas. He is an experienced actor and presenter having appeared with the BBC, Channel Television, TVS and Radio Canada. In 1996 he arranged the first performance of a Western Opera company in Beijing, Capital of the People's Republic of China. In 1997 highlights include a visit to St Petersburg, Russia.