Rod Paton

Rod Paton, D.Phil has had a varied career as a musician and composer, writer and lecturer, researcher and academic, music therapist and community musician.  He has been facilitating workshops in the UK and abroad for over thirty years and is the founder of the Lifemusic method which uses improvisation as a tool for personal development, transformation, well-being and community engagement. His clients include people from all walks of life including teachers, musicians, therapists, social and health care workers, academics and corporate clients. He read music and philosophy in Southampton before continuing postgraduate studies at the Janacek Academy in the former Czechoslovakia where he specialised in horn playing and composing.

Since then he has worked as an orchestral player, jazz musician/composer, community musician and music therapist and is currently Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Chichester where he teaches improvisation, composition, community music and cultural theory, a role he also plays as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Winchester.

Rod runs regular Lifemusic workshops at home and abroad for people of all backgrounds and abilities, including those working in corporate environments. He also runs a weekly "Singing For Health" group in Chichester, promoting voice-work for health and well-being. His book "Lifemusic: Connecting People To Time" has gained wide recognition as a valuable tool for used by community musicians and teachers. Rod is an active jazz and improvising horn player, working alongside some of the cream of European musicians in this field with whom he has broadcast on BBC R3. His Ascension Jazzmass was described in Jazz Journal International as “a moving testament to the human spirit”. Rod is presently developing plans for a new venture - singing and vocalising according to the Lifemusic method - called Vox Anima.

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Telephone Rod: +44 (0)1243 265880 or +44 (0)7717 416319