In 2001, he was granted the first busker's license on the London Underground.
He made his professional debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 1972, when he gave the first London performance of the Cello Concerto by Sir Arthur Bliss.
In 2014, he was forced to retire from cello playing by a neck injury which has weakened his bowing arm.
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to music. He is a cellist and professor in London, Greater London, England.