My father, Leon Bailey, who has died aged 94, was a talented organist dedicated to sharing his enjoyment of music. In 1965 he became lecturer in music education at West Midlands College of Education, Walsall, where he conducted the college choir and was involved in many student productions. He was also assistant organist at St Matthew’s church in the town.
In 1971 he was appointed head of music at City of Newcastle College of Education, and later taught on a creative arts BA programme at Newcastle Polytechnic (now the University of Northumbria).
Born in Portsmouth to May (nee White) and Robert, the secretary of the local Co-operative Society, Leon had an older brother, Ralph, and was briefly evacuated to Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1939. Later he was sent as a boarder to Queen’s college, Taunton, and in 1948 won an organ scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied with CH Trevor.
Leon’s national service in the early 1950s was with the RAF, partly in Cambridge, where he learned Russian and worked in photographic intelligence. After that he signed up with the peripatetic music service in Staffordshire, and in 1958 was appointed head of music at Cannock grammar school. A highlight of his time there was a production of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde. In 1979 Leon went to Keele University to study American music, and wrote his MA dissertation on Stephen Sondheim.
He had a long association with the Open University, teaching various music courses and at summer schools, and was awarded a long-service certificate in 2006. In 1986 he retired from full-time work and moved to Worcester, where he was involved in many choral activities. He was the pianist for Worcester Cathedral family service for 10 years and also chair of the University of the Third Age in the city for three years in the 90s.
Leon married Kathleen Andrews in 1958; they had first met a number of years previously, when Kathleen was a pupil of his. Kathleen died in 1997, and in 2001 he married Valda Moelwyn-Hughes. On their wide travels he also contributed to and enjoyed local cultural activities. Valda moved to South Africa in 2024, although they did not divorce. He continued his involvement with church music at the local parish church.
He is survived by Valda, his children by his first marriage, Ros and me, his grandchildren, Ruth, Daniel and William, and great-grandchildren Harry and Michael.
