ABSTRACT
At various times a musician, school teacher and a university professor, my particular good fortune has been in having opportunities to engage with music, people and ideas in lively ways, and to be constantly stimulated by the interaction of intellectual ideas and professional practice. Above all, I have enjoyed the illumination of artistic activity by philosophical, psychological and aesthetic enquiry. Even at the busiest and most engrossing times in school classrooms, or rehearsing and organizing groups of amateur and professional musicians, or embroiled in school and university politics, a necessary sense of being able to stand back, hold things in perspective and reflect upon the purpose of the ‘business’ has helped to preserve sanity and show a way forward.
