DPJ trained as a concert pianist at the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland in the early 1990s, where he specialised in the virtuosic works of Claude Debussy, Eric Satie and Maurice Ravel. Ravel’s piano trilogy Gaspard de la Nuit is a landmark inspiration in DPJ’s work, first introduced to him by his piano teacher Bernard King (who himself was taught by students of both Debussy and Ravel at the Paris Conservatoire). As a postgraduate student, DPJ won the prestigious Debussy Piano Prize and performed in masterclasses with world-renowned concert pianists, John Lill and Pascal Rogé.

His compositions for solo piano include The Old Man Of Storr (2010); the collection From A High Window (2022) — based on the novel High Window by Raymond Chandler; and the forthcoming cycle of pieces The Dusk and the Dark, inspired from the spiritual writings of Thomas Merton.

The piano features in many of his theatre and dance soundtracks and live performances.