Tony Bridgewater was a student at the Birmingham School of Music (now the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) and St John’s College, Cambridge, studying composition with Peter Tranchell and piano with Malcolm Wilson and Renee Reznek. He has also participated in piano workshops with Margaret Fingerhut, David Owen Norris and James Lisney, and conducting workshops with Rodney Winther, formerly of Cincinatti University.

 

       He gives regular recitals as an accompanist and soloist, and appears frequently in concert series in Cambridge, Rugby, Solihull, Shrewsbury, Bewdley, Birmingham and Stourbridge. In September 2016 he was  appointed Principal Accompanist for the Kidderminster Male Choir.

 

       He has composed music for Orchestra, Concertband and Choir, and sonatas for piano, violin, trumpet and cello. He gave the first performance of his Second Piano Concerto in February 2010, and conducted the premiere of his Double Concerto for Flute and Clarinet in February 2013. In November 2015, the pianist Margaret Fingerhut gave the first performance of his Concert Piece for piano and orchestra , and in July 2016 Anna Downes gave the first performances of his second violin sonata. In March 2017 he conducted the premiere of his fifteen minute tone poem for orchestra ‘The Legend of the Tamar’.  Other recent premieres include his 'Suite for Oboe and Piano', 'Memories of Scotland' for violin and piano, Quintet for Winds and the song cycles 'The Other Side of a Mirror' and 'Snowflakes'

 

       His music for brass and wind instruments is published by Forton Music, including his Sonata for Flutes, first performed in 2015 by the National Flute Orchestra, his Double Concerto for Flute and Clarinet, Trumpet Sonata, Suite for Oboe, Quintet for Winds, and 'Overture for a Festival' and 'Huddersfield Overture' for concertband.

 

       In 2014 he was elected a trustee of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Association, which fosters links with the alumni of the Conservatoire and the wider musical community, and raises money to support students studying at the Conservatoire.  In September 2020 he became the chair of the RBCA.

 

       In 2013 he conducted the National Flute Orchestra at short notice in a programme of works including the Andrew Downes Sonata for Flutes, and he was invited to be the permanent director of the Ensemble from 2014. In this post he has  commissioned and performed new music by composers from around the world. He has also conducted student groups on many tours to Europe and America, and performed in prestigious venues such as Barcelona Cathedral, Montserrat Abbey, Salzburg Cathedral and St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice.

 

        In 2021 he took up a new post conducting the Wyre Forest Symphony Orchestra and gave his first concert with them at Kidderminster Town Hall in December 2021.