Andrew Plant studied the piano in London with Christopher Elton, took his first music degree at The University of Leeds and his doctorate at The University of Birmingham, where he worked with Jan Smaczny and Stephen Banfield and was a visiting lecturer.  His Ph.D. thesis was the first major biographical and analytical study of the composer Christian Darnton.  Andrew is also an expert on the music of Britten: after teaching the music scholars at Uppingham for several years, he spent almost a decade on the staff of The Britten–Pears Foundation.  Following this appointment, he was invited to become Assistant Director of Music at St George’s School, Windsor Castle; and following seven years of directing the Chapel Choir to cathedral standards at another prep school, he is now freelance.  He has been an external academic supervisor for King’s College, Cambridge and contributed to several major scholarly publications.  In 2007 he co-founded Sounding Art Press with artist Jane Mackay and they continue to explore new projects.

Andrew enjoyed a long-standing and particularly fruitful recital partnership with the distinguished counter-tenor James Bowman with appearances throughout the UK and abroad, live broadcasts on Radio 3, and acclaimed recordings for Signum Classics and the award-winning NMC Songbook.  Andrew has also partnered Ben Alden and Stephen Burrows (both in concert and on CD, including highly praised recitals in St Petersburg), Michael Chance, Nicholas Clapton, Lynne Dawson, Nigel Dixon, Michael George, Stefan Holmström, James Gilchrist, Julie Kennard, James Laing, Philip Lancaster, Alexander Learmonth, Ed Lyon, Ralph McDonald, Daniel Norman, Ana-Maria Rincon, the treble Andrew Swait, the virtuoso recorder player John Turner; and (once) Sir Cliff Richard. He has also made  recordings with trebles from St John’s College Cambridge, Winchester College, the Cambridgeshire Boys’ Choir, and worked with a number of acclaimed conductors, including Steuart Bedford and Oliver Gooch. Andrew has given first performances of several early songs by Britten (with James Bowman, James Gilchrist and Andrew Swait) and premiered works by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Ivor Gurney, Sadie Harrison, John LeGrove, Colin Matthews, Graham Peel, Joseph Phibbs, Tom Rose, Martin Shaw, Giles Swayne and Arthur Wills; while his own music has been performed by James Bowman, EXAUDI, London Octave, The Queen’s Six, Lesley-Ann Rogers, John Turner, Alistair Vennart, Tom Verity and other international musicians. Future plans include a recording with Ben Alden of ‘Songs of Youth’, with music by Ireland, Orr, Gurney, and others, including several settings of Housman. 

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In Britten’s footsteps: the Verdi statue in Venice, 2007