Ian Lake (26 January 1935 in

Quorn, Leicestershire Quorn () is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, near the university town of Loughborough. Its name was shortened from Quorndon in 1889, to avoid postal difficulties owing to its similarity to the name of another village, Qua ...

– 12 August 2004 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) was a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who taught for many years at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

in London. The son of working-class parents, he was educated at Trent College after winning a scholarship. After leaving school, he joined the army to undertake his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, playing the clarinet and viola in an army band. He subsequently entered the Royal College of Music on another scholarship. He began teaching at the college in 1966, eventually becoming a professor of piano. In 1995, he was convicted of sexually abusing children and in the same year his teaching career at the Royal College of Music came to an end. Despite this, his career as a concert performer and recording artist continued. Since then several former pupils, both male and female, have come forward and described abuse they suffered from him.

Personal life

Lake married twice. His first marriage ended in 1976 and his second ended in 1996. He had five children and five grandchildren.

References

1935 births 2004 deaths Military personnel from Leicestershire British Army soldiers English composers English classical pianists British male classical pianists Alumni of the Royal College of Music Academics of the Royal College of Music Musicians from Leicestershire People educated at Trent College 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century English musicians People from Quorn, Leicestershire 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British Army personnel {{UK-classical-pianist-stub