Gwyn Parry-Jones was born in Cardiff in 1946 and studied with Alun Hoddinott and David Wynne before going on to Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music. He studied theory, composition, bassoon, piano and voice and more recently Music in Education.

His career has ranged from orchestral bassoonist with the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras to teacher and now Lecturer in Music at Reading University. He is well-known as a conductor of orchestras and choirs, and as an adjudicator at music festivals. As a founder member of “The Five Winds”, he is their regular bassoonist and has contributed various arrangements and compositions to their repertoire.