Todd was born in County Durham, attended Durham School and joined the choir of St Oswald's Church, Durham under its choirmaster David Higgins. He went on to study music at the University of Bristol. He is an accomplished jazz pianist and regularly performs with his trio, and this played a large role in one of his most famous works, his Mass in Blue. Mass in Blue (originally entitled Jazz Mass) was commissioned by Hertfordshire Chorus and first performed at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in July 2003 with Will Todd at the piano.