About Len Rhodes

Music Director ~ Arranger ~ Composer ~ Pianist ~ Organist 

“The resulting audience clamor is also due in no short measure to the red-hot band producing arrangements so close to the originals it makes no matter.” Huffington Post - A Night with Janis Joplin, Lyceum Theatre, NYC (2013).  
Len Rhodes - Original Music, Orchestration, Arrangements & Musical Direction

 “If you've seen a classical performance in Summit County, chances are Len Rhodes had a hand in it. The man of many musical talents is an organist, pianist, composer, arranger, teacher and musical director. Rhodes was exposed to classical music from his parents as classic rock of the '60s was simultaneously exploding in England. Within half a mile of his neighborhood were the residences of artists like David Bowie and The Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman.”  Len says: "I've always enjoyed crossing that bridge between genres; be it the music of Claude Debussy, Dave Brubeck, or the Beatles catalogue." Summit Daily News (November 2018) 

Multi-dimensional Artist Len Rhodes is a composer, arranger, pianist, organist, music director, and educator. He has worked as a professional musician since age 13 when he was appointed organist at Clock House Methodist Church, Beckenham, Kent, England. Len Rhodes has performed throughout the world including the Las Vegas MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre, The Edinburgh International Festival, Cathedral of St. Sulpice in Paris, and London’s Banqueting House for members of England’s Royal Family.

Len is continually in demand as an arranger and composer. His sheet music arrangements are published through Oxford University Press, Hal Leonard,  Music Sales, G. Schirmer Inc., and his website lenrhodesmusic.com.  As recording artist, Len is signed with Burning Girl Records (UK), and his interpretative piano recordings and original music are available through most music streaming services - Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, GooglePlay and more. Follow Len on Instagram #lenrhodesmusic

Most recently, world-renowned violinist Anne Akiko Meyers commissioned Len to arrange Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Sheep May Safely Graze” and ‘Wachet Auf, Sleepers Wake’ for a performance with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in March 2022. The featured works were recorded and released on Ms. Meyers CD ‘Mysterium’ in March 2023. Len’s interest in the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams led him to create a piano solo of Vaughan Williams' "Reconciliation" from his choral work  'Dona Nobis Pacem' for which he was granted worldwide arrangement rights. Other arrangements honoring Vaughan Williams are ‘Meditation on  Sine Nomine’ for organ, a contribution to the 150th anniversary Vaughan Williams celebrations; and an organ arrangement of ‘Pezzo Ostinato’ from 1905, recorded on the Albion ALBCD 053, Serendae.

Len's Broadway and Las Vegas credits include original Musical Director, Orchestrator and Arranger for "A Night with Janis Joplin" (Broadway 2013); and Musical Director, Arranger and Pianist in the Las Vegas MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theatre production of "Mike Tyson – The Undisputed Truth" (April 2012). Compositions, arrangements, and commissions include BBC Radio, Trinity College London, Kennedy Center, Stage West, and the Virginia Shakespeare Festival. He has served the non-profit community as Artistic Director and Artist in Residence with Summit Music and Arts; and as Founder and Artistic Director of Pikes Peak Young Composers.  

Len’s organ mentor, Dr. Douglas Hopkins (1902-1992), Master of the Choristers at Sandhurst from 1971 to 1976, had previously been Sub-Organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, Organist of Peterborough and Canterbury Cathedrals and, immediately prior to his appointment at Sandhurst, Organist of St Marylebone Parish Church in London. Len considers Dr. Hopkins a significant influence; as were his piano professors - Georgina Zellan-Smith, and Ruth Harte.

Len received his diplomas from the Royal Academy of Music and the London College of Music; also studying composition at Morley College, University of London. Len is a Fellow of the Independent Society of Musicians (FISM), formerly the Incorporated Society of Musicians; a member of ASCAP; the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, and the American Friends of the Three Choirs Festival. Additional musical direction credits include Beehive; The Rocky Horror Show; Leader of the Pack; I Do! I Do!; The Boyfriend;  Private Lives; A Christmas Carol; Doonesbury; Marat/Sade; Something’s Afoot; and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. 

Teaching credits include music history at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and Colorado Mountain College-Breckenridge; as well as public and private schools in the U.K. and U.S. He teaches piano, clavichord, organ, composition, ear training, theory and harmony in his private studio.

Among the many influences throughout his life's work and career - John Mayall is paramount.  Other influences including Bach, Beethoven, and Debussy; alongside Alexis Korner, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and David Bowie who have all left an indelible impression.

“To thy own self be true.”
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

“....an artist can never be more or less than they are as a human being...”
Nadia Boulanger

“On behalf of all those people who continue to listen to, enjoy, and dream when listening to your beautiful music…thank you deeply…what you are doing for mankind is truly immeasurable and sincerely appreciated.  Very well done, Len.” 
Ted Stourton, internationally-acclaimed artist, Cornwall, England

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