Lionel Pike was a chorister and assistant organist at Bristol Cathedral, where his teacher and mentor was Clifford Harker. The research for his Oxford doctorate, directed by Dr H.K Andrews and Sir David Lumsden, was on the music of the late-Renaissance composer Peter Philips. He was Senior Lecturer in Music (and later Professor of Music) at Royal Holloway (University of London) and organist of the college chapel prior to his retirement in 2005, after 40 years of service, during which he produced many articles, books and CDs. He served two terms of office as Dean of the Faculty of Music for the University of London.