Academic

John holds an PhD from Kings College London, having researched, submitted and defended a thesis entitled ‘Males, Females and Others: the ‘Berlin’ operettas of Franz Lehár (1926-1929). This was supervised by Roger Parker and Benedict Schofield. He has subsequently delivered papers at international conferences on such topics as ‘Gender Ambiguity and the Repression of Sexual Identity in Franz Lehár’s Der Zarewitch (1927)’ and ‘Richard Tauber in Berlin: Masculinity and Celebrity in Franz Lehár’s Paganini (1926).

He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate from Edge Hill University for his work in conducting and musical theatre.