Whilst at the Conservatoire, RDCE studied piano with international pianists Stephen Coombs and Heather Slade-Lipkin. At the age of thirteen, he made his highly acclaimed London Debut at the Purcell Rooms, performed at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall under Sir Simon Rattle and was the soloist in Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' with the Birmingham Conservatoire Orchestra. He won the Regional Finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in two successive years and recorded his debut album ‘Enlightening’ at the age of 16 (yes, it's a terrible name - but in his defence, he was young!)
Inspired by the west-end production of Joseph he saw seven years earlier, RDCE donned a loin cloth and took the lead role in a local production. Although massively enjoyable, it was quite obvious that he should stick to music!
It did however confirm for him that he absolutely loved musical theatre and although the next five years would be spent training in the classical world, that love would never disappear.