P.R. Pinnock is a composer and lyricist who lives in Portland, Oregon, where he writes songs for musical comedies. He started writing songs in college and continued after graduation, giving it up to play oboe professionally. Finding he could not earn a living playing oboe, he started a rock band, playing electric guitar and once again writing songs.

Finding he could not earn a living playing in a rock band, and having become interested in the music of Gershwin, Kern, and Rodgers & Hart, Mr Pinnock decided to write a musical comedy. He penned the songs for what was to be Uncle Galahad, but was unable to secure the rights for the underlying work.

Instead he wrote The Gift of Speech with Ellen West, which was commissioned and produced by Hickory Community Theatre in Hickory, NC. During this time he also wrote incidental music for two Shakespeare plays produced by Portland Actors Ensemble, and The Folio by Connor Kerns for CoHo Productions.

Following this particularly productive period, he took a break from the theater and formed Combo6, a small swing band, in which he played baritone saxophone, wrote original songs, and wrote arrangements of standards and pop tunes. When that band folded he returned to musical comedies, writing The Modern Girl, followed by The Gentlemen’s Ploy, a work still in progress.

Besides writing for musical theater, Mr Pinnock enjoys writing non-theatrical songs, playing the saxophone, and referring to himself in the third person.

contact:wphil@prpinnock.com