Ramhorns: the professors
MICHAEL THOMPSON
Internationally acknowledged as one of the world's leading horn players, Michael Thompson is also regarded as a charismatic and inspirational teacher. As a conductor, he is known as a fine orchestral trainer and has received acclaim for his work with young musicians.
After studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he was appointed principal horn with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the age of eighteen. Within three years he was offered the principal horn positions of both the Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras. He joined the Philharmonia and remained in that post for ten years before leaving to concentrate on his solo and chamber music career. His work as director/soloist or conductor has seen him perform in Japan, Australia, the U.S.A. Europe and Scandinavia, including his debut with the Danish Radio Sinfonietta in Copenhagen, the Ostgota Winds Symphony in Sweden and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. In the UK he has directed the London Sinfonietta, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Britten Pears Orchestra, Ulster Youth Orchestra and the Royal Academy's Sinfonia and Concert orchestras. He has conducted a number of community orchestras and was Principal Conductor of the City of Rochester Symphony Orchestra from 2003 until 2008.
His concert schedule takes him worldwide and his discography includes the major solo horn repertoire, period instrument recordings and a number of critically acclaimed CDs with his wind quintet and horn quartet. As a member of the London Sinfonietta he is at the forefront of new music and has given many first performances, including the UK premieres of Ligeti's "Hamburg Concerto" and Richard Ayres' "Noncerto". In addition to his classical work, he is very active as a studio musician, playing on sound tracks too numerous to list but including The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Bond films. His work for Sir Paul McCartney resulted in the composition of "Stately Horn" which the Michael Thompson horn quartet premiered in the Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Michael Thompson is a Fellow and Aubrey Brain professor of horn at the Royal Academy of Music and gives regular master-classes and lectures throughout the world. He plays on an instrument made by Paxman of London.
RICHARD WATKINS
Richard Watkins has rapidly become one of the most sought-after horn players of his generation and is well-known as a concerto soloist and chamber music player. He was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra for 12 years and is currently a member of the Nash Ensemble and a founder member of London Winds and the Transatlantic Horn Quartet.
Richard has appeared at many of the world's most prestigious venues in the UK, Europe and the USA and worked with conductors such as Giulini, Sawallisch, Salonen, Andrew Davis, Elder, Rozhdestvensky and Slatkin.
His extensive discography includes Horn Concertos by Mozart (IMP), Arnold (Conifer), Glière and Dame Ethel Smyth (Chandos) as well as Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante (DG) and Poulenc's Chamber Music for Horn (Hyperion). In recital he regularly performs at the Wigmore Hall with singers such as John-Mark Ainsley, Ian Bostridge and Mark Padmore and with pianists, Julius Drake, Roger Vignoles and Ian Brown.
Richard Watkins is closely associated with promoting contemporary music for the horn. He has given premières of concertos by Maxwell-Davies, Osborne, Lindberg, Muldowney, Le Fanu, Colin and David Matthews. A recording of the Colin Matthews concerto with the Hallé and Elder is due for release later this year. Future commissions will include works for solo horn by Nicholas Maw and James McMillan. In addition he has been involved in numerous premières of chamber works by leading composers, primarily with the Nash Ensemble.
Richard Watkins holds the Dennis Brain Chair of Horn playing at the Royal Academy of Music where he is also a Fellow. He is in great demand for masterclasses both here and abroad.
RADOVAN VLATKOVIC
One of the leading instrumentalists of his generation, Radovan Vlatkovic has travelled the globe performing extensively as soloist and popularising the horn as recording artist and teacher.
Born in Zagreb 1962 he completed his studies at the Zagreb Academy of Music and at the Music Academy in Detmold, Germany. Radovan Vlatkovic is the recipient of many first prizes in national and international competitions, including the Premio Ancona in 1979 and the ARD Competition in Munich in 1983 – the first to be awarded to a horn player for fourteen years. This led to numerous invitations to music festivals throughout Europe including Salzburg, Vienna, Edinburgh and Dubrovnik to name but a few, the Americas, Australia, Israel, Korea as well as regular appearances in Japan.
From 1982 until 1990 he served as Principal Horn with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin (now Deutsches Symphonie Orchester) under Maestros Riccardo Chailly and Vladimir Ashkenazy. From 1992 to 1998 he held the post of Horn Professor at the Stuttgart Musikhochschule. 1998 he became Horn Professor at the renowned Mozarteum in Salzburg. Since 2000 he holds the Horn Chair at the “Queen Sofia” School in Madrid and teaches at the Zurich Hochschule der Kuenste. He holds regular masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Julliard School in New York and Geidai University in Tokyo.
Radovan Vlatkovic has appeared as soloist with many distinguished symphony and chamber orchestras including the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Munich Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Mozarteum Orchestra, Camerata Academica Salzburg, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Santa Cecilia Orchestra Rome, Rotterdam Philharmonic, the orchestras of Berne, Basel and Zürich, the Lyon and Strassbourg Orchestras, NHK Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan and Yomiuri Orchestra, Adelaide and Melbourne Orchestras.
From 2000 – 2003 he has been Artistic Director of the September Chamber Music Festival in Maribor, Slovenia.
In May 2008 he premiered the Horn Concerto “Winter Journey” written for him by Krzystof Penderecki together with the Bremen Philharmonic and the composer conducting. There were further performances in Japan, Taiwan, Spain, Finland, in Poland for the occasion of the composers seventy-fifth birthday as well as a performance in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall with his former orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester under Vladimir Ashkenazy. Radovan Vlatkovic has participated in first performances of works by Elliott Carter, Sofia Gubaidulina, Heinz Holliger and several Croation composers who have written concertos for him.
Since 2007 Vlatkovic has been “artist-in-Residence” with the Verdi Orchestra in Milano performing regularly as soloist each season.
Radovan Vlatkovic has received the German Critics Award for several of his discs. His numerous recordings include Mozart and Strauss Concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra and Jeffrey Tate, works by Saint-Saens with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and Jean-Jacques Kantorow, the Britten Serenade for tenor, horn and strings with Neil Jenkins and the Oriol Ensemble in Berlin, Concertos for two horns by Leopold Mozart and Fasch with Herrmann Baumann and Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields and Iona Brown. More recordings including chamber music have been issued by EMI, DECCA, Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Teldec, Dabringhaus & Grimm an Denon labels. A new recording of Penderecki Horn Concerto is expected for this spring on Channel Classics.
Radovan Vlatkovic Plays a full double horn Model 20 M by Paxman of London.
MARTIN OWEN
Martin Owen is widely regarded as one of the country’s leading players, appearing as both guest principal horn with the major London orchestras, and those further afield, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He also appears as a soloist and chamber musician in some of the leading music festivals around the world. Since giving his Wigmore Hall debut in 1997, he has performed a variety of recitals and concerti at home and around the world, including the USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan. In 1998, Martin became principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a post he relinquished after ten years of service.
Martin has now obtained the position of principal horn of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, but still continues a busy and varied solo career outside of the orchestra. Recent performances include Richard Strauss’ Second horn concerto with the New World Symphony, Malcolm Arnold Concerti with both the Scottish Ensemble and Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra, Britten Serenade with tenors ranging from Toby Spence to Philip Langridge and Guildhall Strings, Messiaen- Des Canyons aux Etoiles with Ensemble Modern, Haydn concerto no. 2 with English Sinfonia, Jan van der Roost- Rhapsody with the Scottish Academy, Gordon Jacob’s concerto and Weber Concertino at the British horn festival, and many performances of the Mozart concerti with the RPO.
In 2003, Martin recorded Britten’s Serenade, for Tenor, Horn and Strings (Linn records) with Toby Spence and the Scottish Ensemble directed by Clio Gould, to great critical acclaim, leading to Paul Driver of the Sunday Times citing “Owen’s playing is a luxury for the ear”. He has recently returned to the Wigmore with the Serenade, and recently performed there in a performance of Schubert’s Octet (recorded for Wigmore Hall Live label) with Michael Collins. Other engagements have included a German tour of Schumann’s Konzertstuck with the RPO, recording Mozart concerto no. 4 (RPO classics), Roderick Elms’ Four Seasonal Nocturnes for horn (RPO, Dutton label), and in 2007, Martin’s solo prom debut performing Schumann’s Konzertstuck with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
Having recently performed Britten’s Serenade, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the Bad Kissingen festival 2008, Martin looks forward to playing the London premiere of Elliot Carter’s horn concerto, also with the BBC/Oliver Knussen in December.
Martin has been awarded a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music, where he is Professor of Horn, and he holds the same post at Trinity College of Music.
ANDREW CLARK
Principal horn player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Andrew Clark is known for his stylish performances of Baroque and Classical repertoire on the natural horn. He has made several solo recordings for well-known labels, including Mozart's Horn Quintet, Beethoven's Horn Sonata and Brahms' Horn Trio, (please see other pages) and he teaches natural horn in London at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He performs on a variety of different horns according to the historical context of the repertoire (see My Horns).
After studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with horn professors Anthony Halstead, Jeffrey Bryant and Anthony Chidell, he freelanced with all of London's major orchestras and period instrument ensembles before specialising on historical instruments when Sir Roger Norrington appointed him as principal horn of the London Classical Players in 1990. One of his main areas of interest since then has been the high "clarino" horn parts written in many eighteenth century works, characteristically composed by Bach, Handel, and occasionally Haydn. Examples of the results of this research may be heard in his recordings of all of Bach's twenty-five horn obbligati and several other works, such as Handel's Julius Caesar and Haydn's Symphonies 48 & 51.
In attempting to improve upon knowledge of the natural horn and its technique, Andrew Clark has written a book of Sixteen Etudes, published by Mitre Music, and an article for the Historic Brass Society on the horn's transition to valves as exemplified by the works for horn and piano by Carl Czerny. The latter were recorded with pianist Geoffrey Govier in 1999.
Performing in the Edinburgh Festival in 1996 with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Hanover Band (broadcast "live" on BBC Radio 3) brought prominence in the national press for playing the horn obbligato in Haydn's concert aria Pieta di Me, possibly the highest horn part ever written. It was shortly after these reviews appeared that EMI Classics made contact, resulting in recordings of several of the most famous pieces of chamber music for the horn.
Andrew Clark travels extensively, having performed in North and South America, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Europe. He lives in the south of England with his wife, bassoonist Katrina Russell.
ALESSIO ALLEGRINI
French horn virtuoso Alessio Allegrini is one of Europe’s most sought-after solo and orchestral performers. Born in Sabina on the outskirts of Rome, at the age of 23 Mr. Allegrini won the position of solo horn with La Scala under the direction of Riccardo Muti, where he served from 1995-2002. A prize winner of both the Munich Horn and Prague Spring competitions, he made his debut as solo horn with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Claudio Abbado in 2000, and was subsequently invited as guest solo horn for an entire season. Esteemed for his solo horn performances of the symphonic repertoire, Mr. Allegrini has worked with many of the world’s pre-eminent conductors, including Carlo Maria Giulini, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Lorin Maazel, Marek Janowski, Myung-Whun Chung, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev and Simon Rattle.
An unusually versatile brass player, this season Mr. Allegrini will be performing Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with Ian Bostridge, Brahm’s Horn Trio with Salvatore Accardo, and the Mozart horn concertos with Orchestra Mozart and Claudio Abbado. Performances of the concerto literature have included appearances with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester, and the orchestras of La Scala, La Fenice, and Santa Cecilia in Rome, in addition to first horn engagements with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
Mr. Allegrini’s discography includes La Grande Fanfare: an album of chamber music with I Solisti della Scala Milano (Tudor Records), as well as DVD recordings of Mahler Symphonies 3, 6, and 7 with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Claudio Abbado. He has appeared in the documentary L’altra voce della Musica following the travel of Claudia Abbado between Havana and Caracas, as well as in the movie Rhythm Is It, featuring the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle. His forthcoming collaboration with Orchestra Mozart under Abbado will culminate in the live recording of the complete Mozart horn concertos for Deutsche Grammophon, as well as a DVD of Bach’s second Brandenburg concerto.
Mr. Allegrini studied with Professor Michael Holtzel at the Hochschule fur Musik in Detmold, Germany. He was awarded the top qualifying score in his appointment as Professor at the National Conservatory of Santa Cecilia.
Mr. Allegrini has a special bond with Japan, inspired by the longstanding friendship between his family and sociology professor Shizuo Matsumoto (formerly of Osaka University). Mr. Allegrini auditioned musicians in Japan and created an orchestra of young Japanese women, Amici della Sabina, whom he has conducted in concerts in Yamanouchi, Toyonaka, Nabari and in Osaka’s Symphony Hall. He also organized a performance by 88 Japanese horn players of all ages and levels of experience, and arranged for young Japanese musicians to perform with him in Italy. These activities are part of his efforts to enhance understanding and communication among people of diverse cultures through music.