Luke Ottevanger

Musician, music teacher and amateur composer, Luke Ottevanger was born in West London in 1975, lived in Twickenham until the age of seven, then moved with his family to rural Leicestershire. He spent much of his childhood playing the piano and immersing himself in its repertoire, an exploration that continues to this day. Around that time he also began to experiment with composition of his own. 

In 1993, encouraged by Judith Weir, he went to study Music at King’s College, Cambridge, where his lecturers included Robin Holloway, Alexander Goehr and Hugh Wood, and where his contemporaries included Huw Watkins, Ed Gardner and Daniel Harding; he graduated with a First in 1997. A few of his compositions were performed in the years following university, including The Chant of Carnus for trumpet and orchestra in 2001 (described as ‘compelling and moving’ by the Leicester Mercury), and Elegy and Ascent for orchestra in 2009. Most of his output since then has been written for solo piano and his own enjoyment.

In 2006 he went into the teaching profession, becoming Head of Music at Riddlesworth Hall School in Norfolk and then at Barnardiston Hall School in West Suffolk in 2010. As well as giving occasional piano recitals he has worked extensively as an accompanist for community and school choirs; these days his compositions are almost all for the children at his school.

Father of two children by an earlier marriage, in 2012 he married Philippa Heywood. Since 2024 he has been a widower.