Leslie has been a member of our Orchestra since 2000. He began
playing tuba in the 1960s taught by Christian Surtees and Victor Brightmore,
attending the East Ham (Newham) Music Academy, playing in its youth
orchestra and many other groups including the staff orchestra. When deciding
on a career in music or his other specialism, mathematics, for better or
worse he chose the latter, getting a BSc in mathematics, then an engineering
PhD in materials science, then working in industry as a theoretical analyst
mostly of infrared and visual-band video cameras. He's now a self-employed
mathematician/chartered physicist finding occasional work in optics and was
lately an Open University associate lecturer in mathematics.
However, through all this he continued prolific tuba-playing, being a founder member
around 1970 of the quintet Renaissance Brass, still active until quite
recently. He has played at some time for many local orchestras around London
and southwest Essex (e.g. Brentwood, Havering, Newham, Woodford, Redbridge,
Essex, Nelson, Southwark, Barclays, University of London, MAYC) and is
currently also a member, covering 11 playing years, of the
nationally-contesting Becontree Brass Band.
He has played the solo part in Tubby the Tuba and the Vaughan Williams Tuba concerto with the BPO.
His previous experiences performing this concerto with full orchestra were with the Newham Symphony
Orchestra and then with the National Youth Wind Orchestra under the
direction of Harry Legge OBE.