The Chamber Ensemble
The ASMF Chamber Ensemble was formed in 1967, drawing its membership from the principal players of the internationally acclaimed orchestra the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF).
Founded in 1958 by Sir Neville Marriner and led today by Music Director Joshua Bell, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has evolved into a musical powerhouse, an orchestra renowned across the world for its commitment to the musical freedom of its players and the sharing of joyful, inspiring performances. The Chamber Ensemble, led now by ASMF Director/Leader Tomo Keller, was formed to perform the larger-scale chamber music repertoire with outstanding musicians who have a history of working and collaborating closely together.
The Chamber Ensemble now performs in multiple configurations from wind trios to string octets. Its touring commitments are extensive and include regular tours of Europe and North America, whilst recording contracts with Philips Classics, Hyperion, and Chandos have led to the release of over thirty albums.
Our Musicians – Chamber String Ensemble 2024
Tomo Keller
Tomo Keller
VIOLIN
One of the most admired violinists of his generation, Tomo Keller performs as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, leading groundbreaking performances and recording projects. He regularly performs with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and other major orchestras around the world.
Amendment suggestion: He is the director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and regularly performs with other major orchestras around the world
The 24/25 season saw Tomo perform the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Jan Lisiecki and Daniel Müller-Schott at the Berlin Konzerthaus and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie as well as in Munich, Köln and Frankfurt. Other highlights will include chamber music at IMS Prussia Cove with Kim Kashkashian and friends, as well as concerts in London with Alexandra Dariescu and Timothy Ridout alongside directing the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. H will perform the Bach Double Concerto with Joshua Bell at the 40th edition of the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival as well as concerts with the Chamber Ensemble of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. With Simone Dinnerstein he will perform at Festum Pi on Crete.
2025 marks the release of a recording featuring works by Kurt Atterberg on the Ondine label. Tomo is the soloist in the Suite for Violin and Viola as well as the director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Over the last few seasons Tomo has been directing new initiatives with various orchestras with great success, leading as soloist and from the concert master’s chair. These orchestras have included string and chamber orchestras (Amsterdam Sinfonietta), symphony and opera orchestras (City of Birmingham Orchestra, Wuppertal Sinfoniker) as well as festival and youth orchestras (Grafenegg Akademie Orchester, Pyeong-Chang Festival Orchestra).
During 2021/22, Tomo was artist-in-residence at the Loh-Orchestra Sondershausen in Germany, appearing as soloist, director and conductor, and premiered a new piece written for him by Christoph Ehrenfellner. Wiener G’schichten also received its UK premiere in London with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2022 and was heard again at the New Year’s Concert 2024 in Wuppertal.
In 2020 a DVD/CD box set with all the Beethoven piano concertos was released by Deutsche Grammophon to great critical acclaim, featuring pianist Jan Lisiecki and Tomo Keller directing the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Since his debuts at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna at the age of 17, Tomo Keller has performed at major concert halls all around the world and has been invited both as soloist and chamber musician to music festivals including the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Edinburgh Festival and Bravo! Vail Colorado. He has also been a frequent guest on radio and television broadcasts on ARD, BBC, NHK and ORF.
As a soloist Tomo has performed with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Beethovenhalle Orchestra Bonn, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, St Petersburg Camerata, London Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Concert tours have led him all across Europe, as well as Russia, Asia, America and the Middle East.
As a chamber musician he regularly appears with the Chamber Ensemble of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields as well as alongside Joshua Bell, Benjamin Grosvenor, HK Gruber, Håkan Hardenberger, Janine Jansen, Denis Kozhukhin, Murray Perahia, Lawrence Power, Timothy Ridout and members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tomo Keller is a much sought-after orchestral leader and director, having led the London Symphony Orchestra (2009-2015) and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2014-2019) and has also appeared with more than 30 orchestras as guest leader all over Europe, the US and Asia. In 2016 Tomo was appointed Director and Leader of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Tomo’s recordings include solo works by Bach, Bartok and Ysaye, orchestral recordings including Stravinsky’s Apollon musagète with Sir John Eliot Gardiner/LSO and Grammy Award winning Avant Gershwin with Patti Austin and the WDR Big Band.
Tomo Keller was born in Stuttgart to German-Japanese musicians, and started playing the violin at the age of six. At ten years old he gave his first performances with orchestra. He studied at Vienna’s University for Music and Performing Arts and New York’s Juilliard School of Music. Numerous top prizes and awards followed, at the Fritz Kreisler Competition, the Johannes Brahms Competition and the German Music Competition Berlin where he was awarded the Grand Prize. He was also one of few instrumentalists to receive the Aalto Stage Prize for young musicians.
He has given violin, chamber music and orchestral master classes at all major London Music Colleges as well as at Yale university, San Francisco Conservatory and numerous other schools in the US and the Far East.
In 2022 he was appointed Professor of violin at the HEMU Sion in Switzerland.
Tomo plays the ‘Braga-Bell’ Stradivari of 1726, kindly loaned through the Beare’s International Violin Society.
Harvey de Souza
Harvey de Souza has been a member of the Academy since 1993 and has led the orchestra on tours with Sir Neville Marriner and soloists including Joshua Bell and Julia Fischer. As a member of the Chamber Ensemble he has performed extensively throughout South America, Europe and the USA. Harvey has been a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and a member of the Vellinger String Quartet, who were winners of the 1994 London International String Quartet Competition. He has been Principal Guest Director of the Lancashire Sinfonietta, and was co-artistic director of the Sangat Chamber Music Festival in Mumbai from 1995-2015. He is currently assistant professor of violin in CNSMD in Lyon, France.
Martin Burgess
Martin began playing with the Academy in 1992, taking up the position of Principal Second Violin in 1998. Having studied with Emanuel Hurwitz and the Amadeus Quartet he brought with him the love of chamber music. He leads the Grammy nominated Emperor Quartet (winners of the prestigious Evian International String Quartet Competition). The Quartet has released critically acclaimed CDs of music by Britten, Walton, Martinu and James MacMillan. They have also performed on several film soundtracks, notably There Will Be Blood and Norwegian Wood (both written by Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead).
Martin enjoys a wide variety of playing away from both these ensembles, a highlight including touring the world with Peter Gabriel.
Jennifer Godson
Jennifer Godson was awarded the Dove Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, an honour which had also been given many years previously to her aunt, Daphne Godson. Whilst at the Academy she joined the Fairfield String Quartet with whom she recorded and toured extensively throughout Britain and abroad.
She joined the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 1985 and the orchestra gradually became the main focus of her musical life. She began playing in the Academy Chamber Ensemble in 2006.
An interest in period performance lead to her becoming a founder member of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and also appearing as guest leader with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, with whom she played regularly for many years
Fiona Brett
Born in Belfast to family of violinists, Fiona began learning the violin at the age of five. Her studies progressed through the Royal Academy of Music Junior Exhibitioners, Royal College of Music and Royal Northern College of Music. During this time she won places in the National Youth Orchestra and the European Community Youth Orchestra. She is a founder member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe where she has been a member for more than 30 years. During that time she was also a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for six years. Fiona started playing regularly with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2002, and became a full member shortly afterwards. Although very busy with her commitment to both these prestigious chamber orchestras, Fiona continues to play as a guest with other leading chamber and symphony orchestras from time to time. Fiona lives in Oxfordshire with her partner and son.
Mark Butler
As well as being a member of the Academy, Mark’s orchestral career has also included Co-leader positions with the Ulster Orchestra, Guest Leader of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Guest Principal with the CBSO. From 1971 to 1992, Mark was a founding member of the Chilingirian String Quartet, touring world-wide and making over 30 recordings for Chandos, RCA Gold Seal, EMI, CRD and Nimbus Records. He returned to the Quartet in 2018, and the Chilingirian is now in its 54th year. The quartet’s recordings of the six Haydn quartets by Mozart became well-known and received the coveted Gramophone award. He taught chamber music at London’s Royal College of Music, at chamber music courses in Norway, Finland and Britain and for the Intercollegiate Awards Scheme at the University of Cambridge. He has a violin duo called “Violins Two!”with the Czech violinist Iva Fleischhansová, which gives concerts in the Czech Republic, Germany, Canada and the UK. Born in England, Mark Butler emigrated to Canada at an early age and holds dual British and Canadian citizenship. He studied with the violinist Leonard Hirsch and pianist Ruth Dyson at the Royal College of Music, giving his BBC début in 1971 and Wigmore Hall (London) début in 1972. Mark returned to Canada for a short spell from 1992 to ’96, where he worked with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Vancouver and Victoria Symphony Orchestras. He now lives in Kent, England, continuing his work with the Chilingirian and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Catherine Morgan
Catherine caught the performing bug at an early age, leading the National Children’s Orchestra, GB. She studied music at Oxford, and violin at the Royal College of Music, graduating with prizes for solo and chamber music, and the Jaqueline du Pré prize for string playing. In her final term she gave a series of UK performances of The Lark Ascending, the first live at midnight on ClassicFM; then scholarship funding allowed her to continue her studies in UK and Salzburg with Ruggiero Ricci.
After RCM Catherine toured as a principal and guest soloist with the London Chamber Orchestra and took up up one half of the Philharmonia’s inaugural first violin job share – freelancing and guesting as principal elsewhere, including for the London Sinfonietta, Scottish Ensemble, and in London recording studios. When Debenhams started their own CD label, they asked Catherine to devise them a ‘not classical’ solo violin album with Strictly’s Dave Arch. Fortunately this recording – which Debenhams decided to title “Angelic” – is no longer available.
After auditioning for the somewhat daunting panel of Sir Neville Marriner and Kenneth Sillito, Catherine started to work regularly with ASMF. She has loved sitting in every seat in both ASMF violin sections, often as a guest principal, and occasionally leading, eg for ClassicFM Live in a packed Royal Albert Hall.
Awards have included the Manoug Parikian Prize for violin, from the Musicians Benevolent Fund, recital tours for The Countess of Munster Trust, and a Park Lane Award (South Bank debut). Performing for Menuhin’s Live Music Now! scheme (most memorably in Broadmoor Hospital) sparked a lifelong interest in outreach, and Catherine often takes part in ASMF Social Purpose and coaching projects.
A recent Brighton Festival recital write-up (FringeReview) described Catherine’s playing as “breathtaking, riveting, exciting and individual…every strand in the chromatic and harmonic elements gets heard: a bit like strands in Japanese single malts”, so it seemed only natural for Catherine to choose a pub as the venue when she started her own chamber music series (@tinklingsmusic). Based in central Oxford at a favourite drinking hole of the ‘Inklings’ group of writers, who included JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, the series strives to be ambitious both in performance and outreach. She is extremely grateful to have had funding for the first full season of Tinklings concerts from the ASMF Marriner Project fund.
Jeremy Morris
Jeremy started playing the violin at the age of six and studied at the Purcell School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
After graduating with a Solo Diploma, he was appointed to a First-Violin Principal position with the Scottish Ensemble. He also spent many years as a member of the Ballet Rambert Orchestra, which he regularly led. He has also played in Principal positions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, London Musici, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the BBC Big Band and has worked with most major British orchestras, including the BBC Symphony, Philharmonia and the English Chamber Orchestra. He joined the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 1996
In addition to performing concerts in over 60 countries, he has recorded a huge variety of genres and styles of music, ranging from arias with Pavarotti and backing the Ed Sheeran track “Perfect” on his latest album. He has also appeared as an on-screen violinist in movies such as The Madness of King George and Cinderella.
Jeremy is also active in the world of teaching. He holds various teaching positions, including at Saint Paul’s Boys’ and St Paul’s Girls’ School and regularly teaches at the Guildhall School of Music Junior department. He has coached the National Children’s Orchestra and Pro Corda and has taken workshops across Europe and USA, including the Opus 118 School in Harlem, New York. He also adjudicates at music competitions in the UK and abroad.
Jeremy is also a foodie and his professional travels have allowed him to eat at many of the world’s finest restaurants. However, there are several more which still require to be ticked off the bucket list!
Gabrielle Painter
When instrumental lessons were given out at Gabby’s junior school, little did she think that years later she would be playing the violin on concert platforms around the world. Not least because she had wanted to learn the clarinet! Gabby went on to study with Diana Cummings at the Royal Academy of Music and as a scholarship student with Mitchell Stern at the Manhattan School of Music and the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she gained her Doctorate of Musical Arts.
Gabby is a member of Academy of Saint Martins in the Fields and the Assistant Leader of the City of London Sinfonia. Her concerto performances range from Beethoven to Szymanowski, Prokofiev and Lou Harrison and recital repertoire includes sonatas by Enesco, Busoni and Shostakovich. A passionate chamber musician, she has been a guest artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts and in numerous concert series throughout the UK, Europe and the US. Recently praised by Nicholas Kenyon in the Telegraph for her ‘strong’ leading at Opera Holland Park, Gabby has led numerous opera productions and was the leader of the renowned Endellion Festival for many years. She has led orchestras for conductors including Richard Hickox, Yehudi Menuhin, Ryan Wigglesworth, Martyn Brabbins, Gustav Meier and Leon Fleisher and performed as guest leader and in principal positions for many of Britain’s top chamber and symphony orchestras. Gabby has also been heard on Classic FM, BBC radio, Lyric FM, CRI and New World Records. Classical Source has described her playing as ‘rapt and intense’ with an ‘earthy lustrous tone’.
Gabby is a dedicated teacher and taught for many years at the Junior Department of Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the Senior Department of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where she also devised and ran the Strings Teaching Skills Programme. She is sought after as a teacher and to give masterclasses and coaching.
Gabby is privileged to become increasingly involved in ASMF and CLS Social Purpose work. She plays regularly for Room to Room – a project working with the most isolated dementia patients, hospice settings and ASMF’s work with people experiencing homelessness. Gabby was honoured to be involved in the creation and recording of SoundWalk: A City full of Stories alongside participants from The Connection at St-Martin-in-the-Fields as part of the Marriner Centenary celebrations.
Helen Paterson
Helen Paterson comes from a large Hampshire farming family and, through scholarships, studied at Wells Cathedral School, the Guildhall School of Music, and in Vienna. She took a break from playing to do a History degree at Cambridge, leaving to become Principal Second Violin in the Philharmonia. Since leaving the Philharmonia and rejoining the Academy, she has played as a Guest Principal with most London orchestras and as chamber musician with the Fibonacci Sequence and The St Paul’s Quartet (on viola). She plays on a violin made by Camillus Camilli.
Miranda Playfair
Miranda is Scottish/Corsican. She has played with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields on and off since leaving music college, when Sir Neville Marriner heard her at a Wigmore Hall concert and invited her to join his band. Playing with Iona Brown in the Academy (one of the most beguiling directors of her generation and one of the very few women leaders at the time) inspired her to give leading a go, first in Scandinavia where she lead orchestras for roughly ten years. In Sweden, for two of those years, she was appointed leader/director of the chamber orchestra ‘Musica Vitae’. After a few tours with a string quartet, she moved to Malaysia- a hop and a skip outside the Scandinavian box. This magnificent hop lasted six years, during which she played with the newly formed (and entirely international) Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she regularly performed as a soloist- not something she particularly aspired to- and where, importantly, she started teaching more seriously. The most musically uplifting experience in Malaysia was being given the opportunity to perform Henri Dutilleux’s violin concerto L’Arbre des Songes (Contact with Dutilleux himself, was a real inspiration) and reading a WH Auden poem with live symphony orchestra & film.
Back in Britain, she re-connected with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, started teaching a regular class at the Royal Northern College of Music, and was invited to become Associate Leader of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. This northern adventure lasted a good seven years, and included occasional guest leading with other orchestras such as the BBC Scottish and City of Birmingham Orchestras.
After a major travelling sabbatical involving islands and boats, Miranda bought and fully restored from scratch a 1935 vaporetto, and continued running the music festival she founded with friends in the mountains of Corsica (PONTE CULTURA). Sir Neville Marriner was their Président D’Honneur.
Miranda has for twenty years been a member of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s groups- the latest one: Springhead Constellation. She is still a member of Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, and credits Gardiner for offering a safe space for musical risk and experimentation, and for encouraging, even demanding, total individuality within a group. Future dreams include skippering the 1935 Vaporetto at least as far as Paris, from her mooring in Friesland in The Netherlands; and starting a Margate Arts Club in the UK. Continued fun times and adventures with the Academy of St Martins in the Fields are an absolute priority. ASMF is the gold plated musical anchor, with a Rolls Royce engine. It’s home.
Robert Salter
Robert is a freelance violinist, teacher and coach, and member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Aged 13, he won a full music scholarship to Wells Cathedral School, and continued his studies with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. There, he was a founder member of the Guildhall String Ensemble, and as its Leader/Director gave concerts at the most prestigious venues in Europe, North and South America and Asia. The GSE recorded extensively (with RCA and Hyperion) repertoire ranging from the complete sets of Handel and Corelli to the string works of Stravinsky, as well as many commissions from living composers. Alongside his work with the GSE, Robert worked with the English Chamber Orchestra for many years and appeared as guest Leader with many other orchestras, including the City of London Sinfonia, Bournemouth Sinfonietta and both English and Welsh National Opera. He led the Glyndebourne Touring Opera orchestra from 1990-2010, and has been Leader of the Garsington Opera orchestra since 1993. Robert taught the violin at St Paul’s School (Hammersmith) from 1997-2002 and at the JRAM from 2007-2010. He has coached at Pro Corda, is a regular coach at Grittleton Chamber Music summer course and has led several projects with the Southbank Sinfonia. Robert is generously loaned a Joseph HENRY violin bow by Kathron Sturrock in memory of her late husband Professor David Bennett.
Rebecca Scott
Rebecca grew up surrounded by music. Her parents were both professional string-players, while two of her aunts had successful careers playing the piano and the harp. An uncle of Rebecca’s also worked as a conductor. It was clear from an early age that Rebecca would continue the family tradition. Learning the violin with Sheila Nelson, she went on to study with Yossi Zivoni at the Royal Northern College of Music where she gained a Graduate and two Postgraduate degrees. From there, keen to maintain momentum, Rebecca moved to Northern Illinois University to study with Shmuel Ashkenasi and the Vermeer quartet and, following that, with Mark Zinger at De Paul University in Chicago. Life in the US proved rewarding. Rebecca was not only a member of various chamber, ballet and symphony orchestras. She also played in Chamber Blues, an eclectic group of classical and blues musicians formed by the highly regarded jazz musician Corky Siegel. They toured the U.S, Canada and Virgin Islands together, and performed at numerous concert halls and music events including the Montreal jazz festival. Returning to London in 1991, Rebecca freelanced in the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The following year she became a member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Worldwide travel with these orchestras means she has performed with many great conductors and directors. Rebecca is also a current member of the City of London Sinfonia and the Orchestra of St John’s. She also specialises in operas, and has played for many years with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera and in Holland Park. Rebecca’s love of music extends to playing chamber music to children in hospitals, and in schools for children with special needs. She has taken part in many Academy projects working with London’s homeless and has also taught the violin and viola at Harrow School since 1991.
Helena Smart
Helena Smart began studying the violin aged eight and studied at Chethams School of Music and, following that, at the Royal Northern College of Music with Prof. Wen Zhou Li. She graduated in 2002 with a 1st Class degree, having won several prizes and scholarships including generous awards from the MBF, Sowerby Music and the English Speaking Union. Helena has performed concerti with the Hallé, RNCM Sinfonia, Chethams Symphony, Todmorden, Bishop Auckland and Teeside Symphony Orchestras; and performed solo recitals and in chamber ensembles across the country. Helena was a National String Finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2000; performing on Radio 3 and as part of a BBC production. Since this time, she spent four years living in Cologne, Germany, where she studied with Prof. Mihaela Martin under the prestigious DAAD Scholarship; she performed with her teacher and other professors of the school in chamber concerts, and visiting London to perform as soloist and chamber musician in St James’, Piccadilly, and at the Wigmore Hall. Helena was a member of the WDR Sinfonieorchester, Köln from 2004-2006, and since returning has been a regular player with the London Symphony Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic. Becoming a member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields was a great honour and she loves the performing as well as her involvement within the ASMF Outward Sound education scheme.
Amanda Smith
Amanda Smith was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and is the youngest of a family of six. She studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music. She has been playing with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields since 1994, also working as a freelance violinist with other orchestras such as City of London Sinfonia and London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Katie Stillman
Described as playing with ‘panache and authority’ by The Strad, Canadian violinist Katie Stillman enjoys a multifaceted career as a chamber musician, soloist and now as Opera North’s new Leader. During the past season, Katie has directed the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Manchester Camerata and Northern Chamber Orchestra as well as directing and performing as a soloist with the City of Birmingham Symohony Orchestra.
Matthew Ward
Since graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in 1996, Matthew has worked with a diverse mix of artists, ensembles, bands, and orchestras. In 1997 Matthew joined critically acclaimed and groundbreaking theatrical string septet The Gogmagos with whom he appeared in major festivals throughout the UK and in Europe, USA, Canada, Brazil, and Australia, collaborating closely with numerous writers, composers, and performers including Caryl Churchill, John Tavener, Django Bates, and theatre director Lucy Bailey. Matthew has performed with Said Murad and classical Palestinian group Sabrine at the Montreal Festival, and in various projects with performance company Clod Ensemble.
Matthew has been a member of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields since 1999, and has appeared as a guest principal with English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, English National Opera, and Orchestra of St. John’s, having also toured extensively with Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and English Baroque Soloists. As a chamber musician, Matthew has performed at many major venues including London’s South Bank and Wigmore Hall. He has played on numerous soundtracks, such as Harry Potter and Wicked, and has recorded with bands including The Divine Comedy, Madness and Take That.
Robert Smissen
Born in Mansfield Nottinghamshire, Robert Smissen won a scholarship to Chethams School of Music and went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music, from which he graduated with distinction. After playing with the European Community Youth Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe he took the position of Principal Viola with the Northern Sinfonia before joining the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with whom he has been Principal Viola for over 25 years. He often performs as a soloist with the orchestra, and as a member of the ASMF chamber ensemble and the Pro Arte Piano Quartet he has performed, broadcast and recorded all over the world. Outside of music, being a father of five keeps him more than busy, but his other interests include walking his six dogs, gardening, DIY, early renaissance art, philosophy, cooking and cricket.
Fiona Bonds
Fiona Bonds completed her studies at the Royal Academy of Music and in Berlin. As well as being Associate Principal Viola of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and a member of their Chamber Ensemble, Fiona is also Principal Viola of the City of London Sinfonia, which presents her with frequent opportunities to appear as a soloist. Passionate about chamber music, Fiona was a founder member of the Grammy nominated Emperor String Quartet, and has recently running her Marriner Project – a chamber music series in her home town of Hertford. She loves helping young musicians, coaching the viola section of the National Youth Orchestra, and returning to the Royal Academy of Music to give performance classes, sectionals and as an examiner. Fiona is in demand as a guest principal viola in many of the London symphony and chamber orchestras and enjoys working in the studio, recording numerous soundtracks for film and television.
Ian Rathbone
Ian has played with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields since 1995. He enjoys a busy and varied career in London, performing as a chamber musician, soloist and guest principal with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, as well as in West End shows and film scores, including the latest Mission Impossible. Ian started playing at the age of three with the London Suzuki Group, was later awarded a scholarship to study with David Takeno at the Guildhall, Milan Skampa in Prague and Thomas Riebl in Salzburg. Ian plays on a Boullangier viola from 1879.
Nicholas Barr
Prior to entering the Royal College of Music in 1984, Nick Barr played with the European Community Youth Orchestra and, whilst still studying, with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the London Symphony Orchestra. His professors at the RCM were Frederick Riddle and Roger Best. In 1988, he won scholarships from the Countess of Munster Trust and the Royal Society of Arts to study in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl. As a busy freelance session player, Nick has recorded over 300 soundtracks for films, including Gladiator, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. He was a founder member of the Lyric Quartet making frequent radio and television appearances and many recordings, including the complete quartets of Dohnányi, Ginastera, Michael Nyman and Gavin Bryars. He has appeared as Guest Principal with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and English National Opera. He plays a Charles Boullangier dated 1878.
Alexandros Koustas
Alexandros studied the violin and viola at the Royal Academy of Music and during his studies was awarded both of the institution’s viola prizes. In 2009 he was a resident artist in the Banff Centre, Canada, where he performed as a soloist and chamber musician. He was also a prize winner in the 2006 Lionel Tertis Viola Competition. Alexandros is the violist of the Eeden String quartet and in 2013 he was appointed Principal Viola with the English National Ballet Philharmonic. Image credit: Jay Lawrence
Richard Harwood
Since his concerto debut at the age of ten, the English ‘cellist Richard Harwood has performed in major venues throughout the world including the Royal Albert, Wigmore, Carnegie and Suntory Halls, NCPA Beijing, Musikverein, Concertgebouw and Alte Oper. As concerto soloist, Richard has worked with conductors such as Mark Wigglesworth, Vasily Petrenko, Case Scaglione, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Okko Kamu, and Yehudi Menuhin, and with numerous orchestras including The Philharmonia, RTÉ NSO, Auckland Philharmonia and Ural Philharmonic. As chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Jerusalem and Endellion Quartets, Joshua Bell, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Olivier Charlier, Benjamin Schmid, Alena Baeva, Murray Perahia, Martin Roscoe, Peter Donohoe and Julius Drake, among others. Richard’s discography includes a debut disc (EMI Classics) with pianist Christoph Berner, Composing Without The Picture (Resonus); a solo album of concert works written by film composers, Christopher Gunning’s Cello Concerto and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, both on Signum and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He is regularly featured as a soloist on movie soundtracks, one of the most prominent being Patrick Doyle’s score to Kenneth Branagh’s Murder On The Orient Express. Richard was appointed principal cellist of the Academy of St Martin of the Fields in October 2024. He was previously principal of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2018-2024) and a principal of the John Wilson Orchestra, and regularly appears as a guest principal at the Royal Opera House, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC NOW and RTÉ Concert orchestras. He began his studies with Joan Dickson, before continuing with other eminent teachers such as Steven Doane, David Waterman, Heinrich Schiff and Ralph Kirshbaum. He complemented his studies by taking master classes and lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, Janos Starker, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Miklós Perényi, Bernard Greenhouse, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartet), William Pleeth, Zara Nelsova and Ferenc Rados. Richard was appointed professor of cello at London’s Royal College of Music in September 2024. He plays a cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.
Will Schofield
Will Schofield was born in London to Australian and Italian parents. He read music at Edinburgh University and went on to study with Radu Aldulescu in Rome and at the Menuhin Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Will has been cellist with the Grammy nominated Emperor String Quartet since the group was formed in 1992. He started playing with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields the following year, and membership of these two groups has been the primary focus of his playing career ever since. With the Quartet he has played throughout Europe, North and South America and in Africa, appearing at all of the major festivals in the UK and at numerous festivals abroad including Prague Spring Festival, ‘Mostly Mozart’ New York, Flanders, Monte Carlo, Montpelier/Radio France and Kuhmo in Finland. The Quartet records for BIS, the latest project being a complete cycle of Britten. He has also played as a guest with the Allegri and Maggini Quartets and with the Schubert Ensemble of London.
With the Academy Will has had the opportunity to play the key repertoire for Chamber Orchestra at the highest level, working and recording with musicians such as Murray Perahia, Joshua Bell, Janine Jansen, Julia Fischer and, of course, Sir Neville Marriner.
As a freelance cellist Will has played as Guest Principal Cello with many of the country’s top orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic and the English Chamber Orchestra, and with orchestras in Ireland and Spain. He has played on numerous film soundtracks, and with the Emperor Quartet has collaborated with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood on several projects, most notably the soundtrack to the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood.
InstagramWill Schofield
Juliet Welchman
Juliet studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Alexander Baillie and subsequently with William Pleeth on a Fleming scholarship. Her first position was with English National Opera, before moving to Scottish Opera as Principal Cello. For ten years she was Principal Cello with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, frequently performing as a soloist and in chamber music with its Music Director Anthony Marwood. She has played guest Principal with orchestras including the BBC Scottish, Hallé, Opera North, Britten Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, and with Manchester Camerata where she was also a member. Juliet was cellist in the Praga Piano Trio, and the Killaloe and Dom String Quartets. As well as playing with the Academy, Juliet plays with chamber orchestras such as Britten Sinfonia and City of London Sinfonia. Recently she has also played with London Sinfonietta and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Juliet coaches quartets and ensembles at the Saffron Centre for Young Musicians in Saffron Walden and enjoys taking part in education and outreach work. Now living near Colchester with her family, she runs a cello club at the village primary school for budding cellists.
Judith Herbert
Judith Herbert leads a busy and varied career both as a chamber musician and as a member of various ensembles and orchestras. She was a member of the English Chamber Orchestra for about ten years, during which time she performed throughout the UK as a member of the English Chamber Orchestra Ensemble, and has taken part in many BBC Radio 3 broadcasts. As a member of the Ambache Ensemble she made many CD recordings and gave several Wigmore Hall chamber music recitals. Her Chandos CD recording of Dreaming for solo cello and piano by Amy Beach was described as “ravishing” by BBC Music Magazine.
Lynda Houghton
Lynda Houghton is Principal Double Bass with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and has been playing with the orchestra for over 25 years on many recordings and world tours. Having studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts in Canada, she rapidly went on to establish a reputation as a talented exponent of contemporary music, much in demand with the London Sinfonietta. She was also invited to play with the London Symphony Orchestra – the first woman bassist in that orchestra. Lynda also enjoys playing with a number of other chamber orchestras and ensembles, such as the City of London Sinfonia and Orchestra of St. John’s where she is Principal Bass in both, and as a guest in many other ensembles including the Nash Ensemble and Fibbonacci. She has played at the Sangat Chamber music Festival (seven times), Mecklenburg-Vorponnen (Germany), Orpheus and Bacchus Festival (France) as well as many appearances at the Edinburgh festival. As an enthusiastic ‘period’ instrumentalist she has toured and recorded with Trevor Pinnock’s English Concert, and with John Eliot Gardiner’s English Baroque Soloists. Lynda is now an Associate at the Royal Academy of Music and whilst being in demand as a teacher and examiner, her playing engagements encompass not only the world of contemporary, symphonic and chamber music but also of films and popular music.
David Stark
Born in London, David Stark studied with Duncan McTier and Graham Mitchell at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with a first class BMus in 2011.
In 2013, David took up the position of Principal Double Bass with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff. David is in high demand as a Guest Principal Double Bass, with many of Europe’s leading ensembles, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
In 2017, David also joined the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, as Associate Principal Double Bass.
David is now an Associate at the Royal Academy of Music and teaches the Double Bass at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
David plays on a William Fendt Double Bass 1848
Michael Cox
Michael Cox is an international soloist whose wide-ranging career also encompasses membership of symphony and chamber orchestras, chamber and avant-garde music ensembles and teaching at the highest level. After studies at the Zimbabwe College of Music in Harare and at the Royal College of Music in London, Michael Cox won places on several young solo artists’ schemes before beginning a parallel orchestral career as Co-Principal Flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He went on to spend five years as Principal Flute of the London Symphony Orchestra before being offered Principal Flute positions in the Halle Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and Albion and Haffner Wind ensembles. He is currently Principal Flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Academy of St Martin in the Fields and has recently succeeded his late teacher, Sebastian Bell, as the flautist of the London Sinfonietta. His work there and with the BBC has led to direct collaborations with many of the world’s most notable contemporary composers (Boulez, Stockhausen, Berio, Carter, Tippett, Takemitsu, Messiaen included). Performances in the USA and Italy of Bach Brandenburg Concerti with the renowned American pianist Murray Perahia culminated in a Bach recording with him for Sony in London. Other recordings have included chamber music on Naxos, concerto recordings for the BBC and a recital disc. Further recital recordings are planned in conjunction with Just Flutes and Altus Flutes. Michael is an Altus international Artist and plays on their instruments. Michael Cox has been a visiting consultant at the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Northern College of Music and professor of flute at the Royal Academy of Music since 1995. His renown and his passion for teaching have led to invitations to give classes in all continents and his unique curricular flute course in Oxford, Portugal and Australia. Michael lives in his family home in rolling Devonshire countryside (from where he can indulge his favourite pastime of walking moorland and coastal paths) and on a canal boat in London.
Sarah Newbold
Sarah Newbold studied the flute with Atarah Ben-Tovim and Alan Lockwood at Huddersfield Polytechnic and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Peter Lloyd. She then spent a year at the National Centre for Orchestral Studies.
Sarah is a member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Welsh Chamber Orchestra, New London Orchestra and formerly of both Welsh National Opera and the London Philharmonic. As a freelance player she works with most of the orchestras in Britain. Sarah is able to work in a great variety of musical styles and situations including opera, symphony and chamber orchestra, film sessions, contemporary music, period instrument, solo and chamber music. A keen chamber musician, she is a member of Cardiff Winds and Alvor Ensemble. Since 1989 Sarah has been a Professor of Flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and from September 2010, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She is sought after as an adjudicator and examiner and has given masterclasses and recitals in Greece, Finland and Norway. She has also been the regular flute coach for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain since 2009.
Together with Zoe Smith, piano, Sarah is director of the Llangenny Flute Summer School, which has run annually since 2008. Sarah is a Licensed Andover Educator, teaching the art of movement in music and was awarded a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2017. Together with the harpist and Alexander teacher Imogen Barford, Sarah presented a workshop at the Reflective Conservatoire Conference 2015, “Move well, Play better”: an experiential workshop looking at the question “Why think about the body?”
John Roberts
Glasgow born John Roberts has been based in London since 2008, where, after studying at the Royal College of Music with former ASMF principal oboe Christopher Cowie, he quickly became immersed in the city’s rich orchestral scene, and was appointed principal oboe of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2013. Outside of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, he still holds his position in the RPO as well as being principal oboe in the English Chamber Orchestra, and visiting professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has performed concertos in Europe, Asia and Africa, and is also a very keen chamber musician, having worked at various times with London Winds, the Gaudier Ensemble, Zarek Chamber and London Sinfonietta. In recent years John also has a small presence on CD, having recorded Poulenc’s Sonata, Trio and Sextour with the pianist Mark Bebbington, and a solo number in John Rutter’s “I Sing of a Maiden” EP. A keen cyclist and mountaineer, John lives in Croydon with his wife and two cats.
Rachel Ingleton
Rachel’s early musical experiences started on Saturday mornings aged 11 as a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal College of Music and she was later awarded a scholarship to study there full time with oboe and piano as joint first studies. She enjoys a varied musical life as a member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and is also an active member of the Academy’s Social Purpose team, participating in a diverse range of creative and coaching projects. When not appearing with the Academy, Rachel is a regular guest with various London orchestras. Highlights include performing on stage in costume in six productions of Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House. She has appeared as Cor Anglais soloist in a total of 20 performances of Copland’s Quiet City on USA tours with the Academy in 2017 and 2025. Teaching and coaching are an important part of Rachel’s musical life and she holds teaching posts at St Paul’s School and Trinity School, Croydon. She regularly coaches the oboe section of the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, and has been invited to adjudicate music competitions in several schools. She has also given Masterclasses on USA Academy tours at Lincoln and Miami universities. She has recorded various demonstration tracks for the Grade by Grade and Bravo! oboe series compilations for Boosey and Hawkes and has been an examiner for ABRSM for the past 8 years. Whether at home or on tour, Rachel is always on the look out for the next swimming opportunity, preferably in open water, and has taken part in several long distance swimming challenges.
James Burke
James leads a busy career as both Co-Principal of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Principal Clarinet of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. When not performing, he teaches as a Clarinet Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he once studied with teachers such as Andrew Webster, Nick Carpenter, Barnaby Robson and Joy Farrall. James continues to play as Guest Principal in other orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia. James’ work with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields means that he also has many opportunities to perform chamber music on a regular basis, often with Music Director Joshua Bell. He has also worked with the London Sinfonietta, London Conchord Ensemble, Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Soloists. As a soloist, James recently performed the Howard Blake Clarinet Concerto, with Sir Neville Marriner conducting. James also gives masterclasses, as well as orchestral and chamber coaching sessions in some of the best music institutions in the country, including the Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Southbank Sinfonia, and for the educational departments in the London Symphony Orchestra and Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Thomas Lessels
Thomas studied clarinet at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Michael Harris and at the Royal Academy of Music, with Tim Lines, Angela Malsbury and Nicholas Rodwell, where he won the coveted Buffet-Crampon clarinet competition. Since 2013 he has been a member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, in addition to playing regularly with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a founder member of the Ossian Ensemble, a new music group working with composers including Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Thomas Ades, Anna Meredith and numerous others. He currently teaches the clarinet at Eton College, Westminster Abbey Choir School and the North East of Scotland Music School.
Julie Price
Julie Price joined the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2019.
An orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist, and teacher, Julie has held positions as Principal Bassoon with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been Principal Bassoon of the English Chamber Orchestra since 1994 and Co-Principal, now Principal Bassoon, of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 2001.
With conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ralf Gothóni, Andrew Litton, Edward Gardner, and Douglas Boyd and Sakari Oramo she has appeared as a soloist at the Barbican, Cadogan Hall, and Royal Festival Hall as well as many venues outside London and abroad.
As a chamber musician she has appeared with such groups as the Nash, Gaudier, and Razumovsky ensembles, London Winds, Ensemble 360 and the Lindsay and Chilingirian string quartets.
She first studied the bassoon with Sonja Smith, then with Edward Warren and William Waterhouse in Manchester, and later with Roger Birnstingl in Geneva. Having taught at the Royal College of Music for 24years, Julie is now a Visiting Professor of Bassoon at the Royal Academy of Music.
Her discography includes recordings of Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto and Sinfonia concertante and Elgar’s Romance, all with the English Chamber Orchestra and Strauss Duett Concertino with Michael Collins and the BBCSO.
She has recently become a Trustee of the Countess of Muster Trust.
Graham Hobbs
Graham became a member of the Academy in 2021, alongside which he has also held the position of sub-principal bassoon with the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 2023. His career has included working as Guest Principal and section player with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, English Chamber Orchestra and most other orchestras in London and throughout the UK. He has toured, broadcast and recorded extensively, and has also worked in the West End and on film sessions.
Graham began playing the bassoon at age 11. He won a scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Graham Sheen, Meyrick Alexander and Robin O’Neill. Whilst still a student, he performed as soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Daugherty’s ‘Dead Elvis’ at the Royal Festival Hall. By the time he completed his studies he had won the Needlemaker’s Wind Prize and been awarded the Chairman’s Prize.
Graham is currently a bassoon teacher at TrinityLaban and has given classes at the Royal Academy, Royal College and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He is also an Examiner in Music for Trinity College London.
Stephen Stirling
Stephen Stirling, Principal Horn of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, is a horn soloist and chamber musician of worldwide renown. His discography includes over 100 chamber works and concertos, half of them world premiere recordings of both contemporary and neglected works by British composers alongside the great masterpieces for horn. His second recording of the Brahms Horn Trio, with the Florestan Trio (Hyperion), was nominated for a Gramophone award and his set of Mozart Horn Concertos with the City of London Sinfonia has been broadcast hundreds of times by Classic FM. The Concertino for Horn by Weber, also with CLS and conducted by Michael Collins is also much broadcast. He has played at chamber music festivals all over the world to glowing reviews, ‘phenomenal’ (Berlin) and ‘incomparable’ (Graz). The CD ‘Horn’, with the Fibonacci Sequence on Deux Elles, features both favourite and obscure masterpieces from the horn repertoire. During the pandemic, in conjunction with Anthony Halstead, he researched and recorded a CD ‘From Dennis Brain’s Library’, unearthing unknown manuscripts and forgotten works for horn and piano, for the MPR label. The recording has proven so popular that Volume 2 has just been recorded and will be released late in 2025. As well as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Stephen plays principal horn with the City of London Sinfonia. He appears regularly as guest principal with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played as soloist with the ASMF and CLS, Orchestra of St Johns, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and many others. Works written for him include concertos by Gary Carpenter and Matthew Taylor, premiered with the BBC Philharmonic and ASMF respectively. Throughout his career Stephen has been associated with innovative ensembles. The New London Chamber Ensemble was one of the first groups, now much imitated, to pioneer choreographed performances in wind chamber music. In collaboration with Endymion, Capricorn, the NLCE, the Fibonacci Sequence, Arpège, the Composers Ensemble and the Hebrides Ensemble, he has been involved with commissioning, premiering and recording countless new works, chamber and solo and working with some of the finest composers of our time, James Macmillan, Martin Butler, Harrison Birtwistle, Thomas Adés, Sally Beamish, Bret Dean, Jörg Widmann, and Gary Carpenter to name a few. He was an early member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe which revolutionised performance practice of the classical repertoire on modern instruments through their work with Niklaus Harnoncourt and recently Stephen has enjoyed working for Aurora Orchestra in memorised live orchestral performances of Beethoven, Mozart, and Brahms symphonies. Stephen is Professor of Horn at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and a faculty member of the Yellow Barn International Summer Music School and Festival in Vermont, USA.
Jo Hensel
Jo has been a member of the horn section of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields since 1998 and currently serves on the orchestra’s Board as a Player Director. She is actively involved in ASMF’s Social Purpose programme, which harnesses music’s ability to empower people and extends the creative freedom of its musicians beyond the concert hall. Jo particularly enjoys bringing together her work as a musician and Coaching Psychologist in this setting, running performance and audition confidence sessions with young musicians as part of ASMF’s Social Purpose projects, including with Sinfonia Smith Square and in conservatoires and universities around the world during the orchestra’s tours.
Jo fell in love with the sound of the French horn at the age of 11, having been a tenor horn player in her local brass band in Dorset since the age of eight, and the youngest member of her local choral society (by about 40 years). She went on to study horn and voice at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has since enjoyed a rich and varied playing career – touring, recording and performing with many of the UK’s and Europe’s leading orchestras and chamber ensembles.
Alongside her performing life, Jo is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist working with performing artists and others in elite performance settings. She was appointed Performance Confidence Associate at Guildhall in 2021, following 11 years as Deputy Head of the Wind, Brass and Percussion Department.
Her work with ASMF (her second family) continues to be a meaningful and integral part of her professional life.
Mark David
Mark David, Principal Trumpet in the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has enjoyed a distinguished career as a performer with some of the most prestigious ensembles in the world. He has been described as “epitomising the very best of British Trumpet playing: clarity of tone, elegance of style and with sustained power when required.” Prior to joining the ASMF he held the position of Principal Trumpet in the Philharmonia Orchestra for over twenty years. He performed as a soloist with the Philharmonia in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 2, directed by András Schiff, the Haydn trumpet concerto conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy and Copland’s Quiet City at Buckingham Palace in a private concert for the Prince and Princess of Wales. He has also performed the Haydn concerto with the ASMF in London and Switzerland, and in 2017 he toured the USA with the ASMF, performing Copland’s Quiet City, Shostakovich Piano concerto no 1, and a new commission for piano, trumpet and strings, “The Haunted Ebb” by Alasdair Nicholson. In the 2024/25 season, Mark performed the Haydn concerto in South Korea and China and Copland’s Quiet City and Schostakovich Piano Concerto No 1 in the USA.
Mark was born in Cornwall and began his musical life in the county’s renowned brass bands. He studied at the Birmingham School of Music with John Wilbraham and later with Håkan Hardenberger. His professional career began as Principal Trumpet at Opera North and continued at the Bournemouth Symphony before he moved to the Philharmonia in 1990.
Alongside his performing schedule, Mark’s leadership as Artistic Director and Head of Brass at the Royal Academy of Music has positioned the brass department as one of the foremost in the world, and his former students occupy positions in orchestras worldwide. Mark is also active as a brass clinician and pedagogue. Recent masterclasses have included visits to the USA, Australia, China, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Italy and France.
In January 2022, Mark was conferred as a Professor of the University of London. In his leisure time Mark is a keen sportsman, competing in triathlons and ultra-marathons and is a qualified ski instructor, personal trainer and mountain bike instructor.
Mark David is a Yamaha Performing Artist
William O’Sullivan
Growing up in London, Will joined the London Schools Symphony Orchestra. He attended the Royal College of Music, where he studied with David Mason, Michael Laird and John Wallace, and during this time was a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra. At the RCM Michael Laird encouraged him to play the natural trumpet, and he was subsequently fortunate to tour, record and perform concerts with the main UK period instrument ensembles, as well as working with many European ones. During a fruitful ten years, he was a busy freelance player with the major London Orchestras, as well as working closely with John Wallace and his ensemble: the Wallace Collection, and for the past twenty years he has been a member of English National Opera. He has taught the trumpet at all levels, and currently teaches at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Tristan Fry
Born in London, Tristan began his professional career with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 17 as Co-Principal Timpani and Percussion. At this time, he also became regularly involved at Aldeburgh working closely with Benjamin Britten, particularly on the ‘parable’ operas, as well as joining John Dankworth’s Orchestra with Cleo Laine playing three seasons at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. He went on to become a founder member of the London Sinfonietta and the Pierrot Players (now Fires of London), during which time he worked closely with Harrison Birtwistle and Peter Maxwell Davies. He has appeared several times at the Proms, featuring as the soloist in such pieces as Stockhausen’s Kontakte and Zyklus, as well as performing Bartok Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, many pieces by Boulez, works by Richard Rodney Bennett, and various piano duos, including John Ogdon and Brenda Lucas, and members of the Menuhin family. Tristan has been involved in many commercial recordings, TV shows and films, playing on such diverse soundtracks as the James Bond, Pink Panther, Harry Potter and Amadeus movies, and records for the Beatles, Nick Drake and Pavarotti. TV shows include The Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise with André Previn, Yes Minister, Top of the Pops and Dr Who. He has worked with many great artists from all areas of music, including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye, Jack Benny, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Sonny Davidson, The Beatles, Liza Minnelli, Leonard and Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, André Previn, Stan Getz, Val Doonican, Vera Lynn, The Rolling Stones, Ken Dodd, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Rozhdesventsky, Duke Ellington/Count Basie and their orchestras, Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson and his orchestra, Barbra Streisand, John Pritchard, Sir Simon Rattle, György Ligetti, Sir Colin Davis, The Shadows, John Williams, John Mandell, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Sir Charles Mackerras, Lorin Maazel and Igor Stravinsky. He has hosted his own television series called Countdown to the Festival, and has done many solo concerts of avant garde percussion repertoire. Currently, Tristan is the timpanist for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and is, therefore, one of the most recorded timpanists in the world. He also makes regular appearances with other English and European orchestras. Tristan is also a founder member of the pop group SKY along with John Williams and Herbie Flowers and they have had hit songs reaching the top ten in both England and Australia.