Rachel Gough FRAM is a British classical bassoonist. [1] She has been Principal Bassoon of the London Symphony Orchestra since 1999 [1] and was Co-Principal Bassoon of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1991 to 1999.
Gough studied anthropology and music at King's College, Cambridge and subsequently studied bassoon at the Royal Academy of Music and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Klaus Thunemann. During this time she was principal bassoon of the European Union Youth Orchestra and won the gold medal at the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition. [1]
Gough was Professor of Bassoon at the Royal Academy of Music from 1991 to 1999 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2002, [2] an honour "awarded to alumni who have distinguished themselves within their field, commanding national or international recognition, or who have given exceptional service to the Academy" and limited to 300 musicians. [2]
As a woodwind principal, Gough performs in majority of LSO concerts [3] and has recorded extensively with the orchestra. [4] As a chamber musician, Gough participated in a project by Cala Records to record the complete wind chamber music of Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Ravel. [5]
Gough has featured in several programmes on BBC Radio 3 as both a soloist [6] and as a presenter. [7]
Sir Colin Rex Davis was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom he was particularly associated were Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett.
Sir Neville Marriner, was an English conductor and violinist. Described as "one of the world's greatest conductors", Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another compilation ranks Marriner #14 of the 18 "Greatest and Most Famous Conductors of All Time". He founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and his partnership with them is the most recorded of any orchestra and conductor.
Meyrick Alexander is an English bassoonist. He is one of the UK's best known bassoonists and bassoon teachers.
Gwydion Brooke was the principal bassoonist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of its "Royal Family" of wind instrumentalists, along with Jack Brymer (clarinet), Terence MacDonagh (oboe), and Gerald Jackson (flute).
William Waterhouse was an English bassoonist and musicologist. He played with notable orchestras, was a member of the Melos Ensemble, professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, author of the Yehudi Menuhin Music Guide "Bassoon", of The New Langwill Index, and contributor to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Martin Gatt is a British classical bassoonist. He studied under Archie Camden at the Royal College of Music in London. He served as principal bassoonist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958 to 1966, after which he was appointed principal bassoonist of the English Chamber Orchestra from 1966 to 1976. He also held the post of principal bassoon of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1998, and was the bassoonist in the Barry Tuckwell Wind Quintet from 1967 to 1991. He is also active in music education. At the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts he founded the Department of Wind, Brass and Percussion. He taught at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama from 1967 to 1984, and is currently a professor of Bassoon at the Royal College of Music.
Milan Turković is an Austrian classical bassoonist and conductor. He originates from an Austro-Croatian family, grew up in Vienna and became internationally known as one of the few bassoon soloists. Over the past two decades, he has become a successful conductor, making appearances all over the world.
Karen Clark (née Geoghegan) is a Scottish classical bassoonist and music educator. Clark appeared on the 2007 BBC Two reality show, Classical Star.
Peter Musson was a bassoonist and bassoon teacher. He was a principal bassoonist in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Senior Lecturer in bassoon at the Queensland Conservatorium and was a soloist and member of chamber music ensembles.
Graham Sheen AGSM is a British bassoonist, teacher, composer and arranger. He is principal bassoonist of both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. From 1979 he has been professor of bassoon at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he also teaches chamber music, orchestral repertoire and bassoon ensemble. His published works include solo works for bassoon, chamber music for both winds and strings and three song cycles. He has made numerous arrangements for wind ensemble and three volumes of graded pieces for the bassoon are published by Faber Music. He has recently recorded two solo albums for SFZ music.
Julie Price is an English bassoonist. She is principal bassoonist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
The Delmé Quartet, aka The Delmé String Quartet, was a String quartet, founded in London in 1962. In 1967, it became the first string quartet to be attached to a British university as Artist-in-residence—in this case, the University of Sussex. The quartet also spent four years as performing Fellows at Lancaster University, and taught the art of quartet performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. They toured extensively and released 30 albums.
Mordechai Rechtman was an Israeli bassoonist, conductor, academic teacher and arranger. He was principal bassoonist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra from 1946 to 1991. He was professor of bassoon at the Tel Aviv University from 1968 to 2002, and taught as a guest professor internationally, including the Indiana University School of Music, the Juilliard School and the Royal Academy of Music. Rechtmann was also known for transcriptions and arrangements for wind quintets and other ensembles that he had founded and conducted, specifically of concertos.
Bram van Sambeek is a Dutch bassoon soloist and teacher.
Ursula Leveaux is an English classical bassoonist. She is Principal Bassoon with the City of London Sinfonia and the Academy of Ancient Music; and is currently the bassoonist of the Nash Ensemble. Leveaux was Principal Bassoon with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to 2007. She has made numerous recordings, including of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' bassoon concerto, which was written for her. In 2020, she was a judge in the wind and brass final of the 68th Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition.
Margaret Cookhorn is a British classical contrabassoonist and bassoonist. She is Principal Contrabassoon and Bassoon with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, bassoonist with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and, notably, has pursued a career as a contrabassoon soloist. John Woolrich's contrabassoon concerto Falling Down was written for her. She most recently performed the piece at the BBC Proms in 2015.
John Alexander Georgiadis was a British violinist and conductor. He was twice Concert Leader with the London Symphony Orchestra during the 1960s and 70s, a member of both the ensembles London Virtuosi and the Gabrieli String Quartet as well as conductor for both the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and as Director of Orchestral Studies at the Royal Academy of Music.
Anthony Camden was the principal oboe and chairman of the board at the London Symphony Orchestra. He was also a founding member of the ensemble London Virtuosi and went on to become the provost and director of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane before becoming the dean of music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He was affectionately known as the Whizzer in the world of classical music.
Robert Thompson is an American bassoonist.
Matthew Wilkie is an Australian classical bassoonist. He is Principal Bassoon with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) and Principal Emeritus Bassoon with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He has made a substantial number of recordings, notably with the COE, in both a full orchestra and as a member of the Wind Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.