Steve Race (musician)

Stephen Russell Race (1 April 192122 June 2009) was an English composer, pianist and radio and television presenter. Early life He was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the son of a lawyer, Russell Race, who died in 1926. Race learned the piano from the age of five. He was educated (1932–37) at Lincoln School, where he formed his first jazz group, which included a young Neville Marriner, later a major figure in the world of classical music. At sixteen, he attended the Royal Academy of Music, studying composition under Harry Farjeon and William Alwyn. His brother Philip, a solicitor, was a Methodist preacher, and worked with the British Council of Churches, from 1990 known as Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Career After leaving the academy, Race (encouraged by the classical music critic of the News Chronicle, Scott Goddard) wrote occasional dance band reviews for Melody Maker and, in 1939, joined the Harry Leader dance band as pianist, succeeding Norrie Paramor. Race joined the Royal Air Force in 1941, and formed a jazz/dance quintet. After the Second World War, he began a long and productive career with the BBC, where his ready wit, musicianship and broad musical knowledge m