Michael Lloyd was born in Limpsfield Surrey, and  moved to Hove, East Sussex at the age of one. A great musical influence in his formative years was his schoolteacher Basil Waymark, FRCO, who was also the organist for the Dome Mission, Brighton for many years. At an early age his mother bought him a descant recorder and with Basil Waymark’s expert tuition Michael soon became adept on the instrument gaining top marks for his playing at the Brighton Open Music Festival.

 

On the advice of a family friend, George Stunnell, Bandmaster of the Suffolk Regiment (later to become Director of Music to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst), Michael enlisted as a Bandboy in The Royal Sussex Regiment at the age of fifteen to play the clarinet. Six months later, still fifteen, he secured a place at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, he became one of the youngest pupils ever to attend. At the end of his training and a prizewinner, he returned to his regiment to become one of the youngest Solo Clarinetist in the British Army.

 

After serving nine years with The Royal Sussex Regiment Michael changed regiments, to become a musician in the glamorous globe-trotting HM Scots Guards under the direction of Major James Howe, a truly flamboyant character and well known globally. Michael soon established himself in the elite Touring Band and toured many countries including North America, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Monaco, Italy, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia. One of the highlights of a Japanese tour was to attend a reception in the presence of Emperor Hirohito at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo. He also had a two-year spell at Covent Garden Opera House, London with the chorus, working alongside the great Tito Gobbi at one point in 'Aida'and Peter Glossop in Britten's 'Billy Budd'.

 

Frequent broadcasts for BBC Radio saw Michael playing for programmes such as ‘Friday Night Is Music Night’, ‘Workers Playtime’, ‘Music While You Work’, ‘Listen to the Band’, ‘Marching & Waltzing’ etc. The Irish Guards hired him to play in their TV recording of ‘Match of the Day’, which lasted for fifteen years before being replaced. He also worked with various artistes such as Tom Jones, Vera Lynn, Jimmy Edwards, Kenneth McKellar, Harry Secombe, and Moira Anderson. During his time with the Scots Guards he participated in no fewer than thirty-five LP record albums recorded by Phillips Records. A trip to Paris was made to collect the coveted Golden Zither Award for the most original light music record of 1976. In his last few years of service he changed principal instruments from clarinet to alto saxophone and subsequently joined the Brighton Saxophone Quartet under the direction of its founder Bert Arnold.

 

On leaving the Army in 1981 new horizons loomed and Michael landed a position at the Royal Academy of Music where he spent the next fourteen years as the Orchestral Librarian and Custodian of the Henry Wood Collection. This new experience allowed him to work alongside such notable composers and conductors such as Sir Michael Tippet, Witold Lutoslawski, Sir Charles Groves, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin etc. He was also able to spend time giving master classes on saxophone and clarinet as well as giving recitals in the Home Counties. This new post also allowed him to pursue his other interest, arranging music for saxophone quartets, symphonic wind bands and orchestra. Several of Michael's reclaimed early music scores as well as english translations overlaying urtext versions of major masses, are lodged in the Royal Academy of Music Library, London

 

In 1986 Michael readily accepted the post of Musical Director to the Brighton & Hove Concert Orchestra from the then aging Richard  Herring, having previously been Director of Music to the Brighton Symphonic Wind Band for a number of years. Under his enthusiastic direction the B&HCO has grown from strength to strength.

He a past Musical Director of the prestigious Concert Band of the Royal British Legion, Little Common, Bexhill. He has conducted numerous "LAST NIGHT of the PROMS" and "1812 CONCERT" with firework displays at Eastbourne bandstand.