I started the Northamptonshire County Youth Choir in 1990 with a residential course at the Arkwright centre near Rushden.  The choir was helped by the dedication of Michelle McBride and the support of various secondary school music teachers. There were 42 singers when we began the course. One became home sick before starting and another collided with a wall in the first half an hour. Despite this unpromising start the choir went on to give their first performance at the Derngate in Northampton four weeks later and within three years had become one of the most highly rated youth choirs in the UK. They performed on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 and at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and Symphony Hall in Birmingham. 

Each year the choir was developed and refined. The scope of the project was extended by adding a boys choir, junior choir and girls choir and by 1993 it included over two hundred singers.  

The choir reached the national televised finals of the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year on two occasions and won prizes at Riva del Garda and Montreux choral competitions. The choir was invited to perform at the national celebration for the 75th birthday of Sir Malcolm Arnold at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. It won several outstanding and highly commended prizes at the National Festival of Music for Youth.