My father died earlier this year. To commemorate his memory, I am establishing a new award in his name, the Ralph Markham Award. This award is to celebrate a student’s personal achievements and development.

He had spent a lifetime with a love of music, both listening to it and playing. As a child he sang in the church choir, played and sang in a skiffle group, played the clarinet and the piano. When I was seven years old, I was fortunate to be asked at school what instrument I wanted to play. I said clarinet of course, I wanted to be just like my dad.

My father supported me and my brother in all our musical endeavours. My parents hired a saxophone for my fourteenth birthday, and from that point I didn’t look back. I had found my instrument. My parents came to as many concerts as they could, including my final recital for my master’s degree in Massachusetts in 1994. My dad (and mum) had an unwavering support for me and my brother. They didn’t have expectations of what we should or shouldn’t do, they supported our journey.

My dad loved all music and was curious. As a teenager he played in bands and attended gigs with my mum, including seeing the Beatles. He loved all classical music. In the 1970s my mum and my dad decided to embark on studying with the Open University in their spare time. My dad got a degree in music and education. When they visited me in Germany in the 1990s, he disappeared every day for hours because the theatre in Karlsruhe where I was living was running a big opera festival. He wanted to hear it all. He was a regular visitor to the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. He and my mum would go straight from work in Sheffield, driving to Huddersfield to experience a concert of new sounds and ideas. Sometimes inspiring, sometimes strange, always thought provoking, and my dad loved it. Dad built up a huge record collection. He would listen every day to music, orchestral, opera, and ballet were his favourites. In later years he watched operas and ballets with the sound going through his huge speakers.

As a teacher, my dad taught on the building course at FE college. He had trained to be a technical drawer when he left school, he taught for many years, before returning to work as a draughtsman in his 50s. He was always supportive of his students, hoping that they would be the best they could be and achieve the best for them.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate all that my dad stood for and how much he meant to me. This award allows me to reflect on how lucky I was to have my dad in my life, and I am pleased his legacy can continue to support and inspire my students.