Nigel Barr grew up as a member of the

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

Salvation Army band. In 1980 he went to the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

and studied trombone with Peter Gane and Denis Wick during that time he was also a member of International Staff Band (1980–82) playing bass trombone. Since then Barr has had a varied freelance career and several business ventures, including setting up in 1982 which manufactured and distributed leather

gig bag A gig bag (or gigbag) is a padded, soft-sided bag used for the storage and transport of musical instruments, most commonly a guitar or bass guitar. A popular alternative to the usually heavier, more cumbersome hard shell cases, most gig bags incl ...

s. Initially the gig bags were manufactured in Telford and later Hay-on-Wye but due to retirement of the key craftsman there has been a break in manufacture. Today the gig bags are manufactured in

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

, Lincolnshire. In the early nineties he became a shareholder of Sterling Brass Instruments which are still manufactured today. He has been a member of the

Michael Nyman Band The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, ''Il Campiello'' directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic. The band did not wish to break up aft ...

since 1988 and undertaken many tours with the ensemble all over the world, including Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Europe, US, Mexico, Russia and Slovenia. In 1992 Michael Nyman asked Barr to become his manager he became involved with the business of music publishing, film scores and recording contracts. This has led to further consultancy roles with many composers and film companies in the UK and US. Nigel has been on the Global Mediation Panel as an accredited mediator since 2013 and from 2022 he has been an In-house mediator. Nigel is recognised as an accredited SEND Mediator and is also an ADR Group Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator (2013) with dual qualification giving him accreditation of The International Academy of Dispute Resolution and the Civil Mediation Council. Nigel has completed over 500 mediations.

Selected filmography

*''

Prospero's Books ''Prospero's Books'' is a 1991 British avant-garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''The Tempest'', written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and ...

'' (1991) *''

The Michael Nyman Songbook ''The Michael Nyman Songbook'' is a collection of art songs by Michael Nyman based on texts by Paul Celan, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, William Shakespeare and Arthur Rimbaud. It was recorded as an album with Ute Lemper in 1991, and again as a conc ...

'' (1992) (on-screen appearance) *''

À la folie ''À la folie'' ("To Madness") () is a 1994 French drama film by Diane Kurys with music by Michael Nyman. It entered the competition at the 51st Venice International Film Festival.Edoardo Pittalis, Roberto Pugliese, ''Bella di Notte'', August 199 ...

'' (1994) *'' The Ogre'' (1996) *'' Wonderland'' (1999) *'' Dead Babies'' (2000) (music supervisor) *'' The Claim'' (2000)

References

* Living people People from High Wycombe Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-musician-stub