His career as a conductor began with the Royal Marines from 1957 to 1970. He then joined D'Oyly Carte, becoming Music Director from 1971 to 1979. There, he led the company during its centenary year in 1975 and issued a number of recordings, including the company's only recordings of "Utopia, Limited", "The Grand Duke", and "The Zoo", as well as recordings of some rarely heard Sullivan music. 