John Williamson Wallace CBE, FRSE (born 14 April 1949) [1] is a Scottish trumpet player, composer and arts educator.
John Williamson Wallace CBE, FRSE (born 14 April 1949) [1] is a Scottish trumpet player, composer and arts educator.
Wallace was born in Methilhill, Fife, Scotland. His father Christopher Wallace worked as a joiner at the Tullis Russell Paper Mill in Glenrothes and played in the Tullis Russell Mills Band for 65 years. At the age of seven, John was given a cornet and taught to play, initially by his father. He soon joined the junior band and later progressed to the senior band, being the fourth generation of his family to play in a brass band. [2] In 1964, he was selected to play in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. [2]
Wallace attended Buckhaven High School before going on to read Music at King's College, Cambridge, where his Director of Studies was David Willcocks. [1] He then went on to study composition, with trumpet as a second study, at the Royal Academy of Music and York University. [3]
Finding that composition didn’t pay, Wallace joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as co-principal trumpet in 1974. This was swiftly followed by two years with the London Symphony Orchestra as joint principal trumpet. Then in 1976 he began a nineteen-year stint as principal trumpet of the Philharmonia Orchestra. [4]
Alongside his orchestral duties Wallace developed an extensive solo career, of which the most prominent public high spot was playing a widely televised trumpet solo alongside Kiri Te Kanawa at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981. [5]
In 1986, following a period with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, he founded the Wallace Collection Ensemble, a flexible brass interest group. [6]
In 2002 Wallace was appointed principal of the then Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. During his tenure the Academy’s activities were expanded and it was renamed the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
On leaving the Conservatoire staff in 2014, he was appointed Emeritus Professor of Brass. [3]
John Wallace was appointed OBE in the 1995 New Year Honours list, for distinguished services to music.
In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [7]
In the 2011 Birthday Honours list he was appointed CBE for services to music, dance and drama education.
In 2014, he received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music from the University of St Andrews. [8]
In 2021, he was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music by Queen Elizabeth II. [9]