Lewis Riley
Biography
Lewis Riley was born in Lancashire in 1951 and educated at Darwen Grammer School. After achieving a Cert. Ed. at Dartington College of Arts and Rolle College, Exmouth, Lewis taught music at Droitwich High School and then became head of music at Dartington Hall School before it's closure in 1987. Since then he has pursued a freelance career, mainly as a teacher of jazz giving group workshops and teaching individual piano students in schools, colleges and arts centres. He has also led, performed in and composed for various Devon based jazz groups ranging from trios to a 14 piece big band. In 1992 he completed a B.Phil (Ed) Creative Arts in Education at the University of Exeter.
Current part-time employment includes teaching individuals at home and at Dartington College of Arts where he lectures and runs a jazz workshop. He also runs a Saturday Music School for 4-8 year olds which includes two jazz groups.
Lewis was a founder member of the Totnes Jazz Collective which promotes local musicians and encourages new work. From 1997 until 2000 he worked for Dartington Arts programming concerts for the Great Hall.