Russell Stokes was born London in 1958. He began learning the piano at the age of 7 and started the flute a couple of years later. During his school years, he attended the Royal Academy of Music as a Junior Exhibitioner, and completed his teaching LRAMs before attending University. In 1982 he started his career in education, spending most of the time in the same school teaching flute, piano, composition and music technology.

Most of his published compositions have been for educational purposes with several appearing in examination syllabuses. Since retiring in 2018, he has moved to the South of the country and is able to spend more time engaging in his lifelong hobby of photography. He is still musically involved in his local church and enjoys composing backing tracks for video and the spoken word.