ABBA

He is a trumpeter born in Hammersmith, London, and moving to the North of England with his family when he was four. He began playing the cornet when he was six years old under the tutelage of his father, who played in a Salvation Army Band, and he performed with several of the brass bands situated in Yorkshire as well as being made the All British Junior Champion Cornet Soloist in 1947. When he was 21 he became Principal Cornet of the Black Dyke Mills Band and stayed with them for 5 years before he began edging into the world of orchestral music with performances being given with the Halle Orchestra, La Mer Orchestra and the Liverpool Philharmonic. In 1961 he joined the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, or BBC Northern Orchestra as it was called then, and after remaining with them for 16 years he became Principal Trumpet for the London Symphony Orchestra. He kept this post for the rest of his career until his retirement in June 2007, but throughout his years with the LSO he could also be heard with ensembles such as the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, the English Brass Ensemble and the London Metropolitan Orcehstra. Very active in the recording studios his work can be heard on many, many soundtracks including all the Star Wars movies, the first three Superman movies, Johnny English, Gangs of New York, Batman, Alien, Frankenstein, Gladiator and as a soloist on Mr. Holland's Opus, and other albums he features on are Jackson: Trumpet and Organ Works, London Trumpet Sound Vol. 1 & 2, Swing When You're Winning by Robbie Williams, Reload by Tom Jones, Surrounded, Isobel and Post by Bjork, Dust Bowl Symphony by Nanci Griffith, Symphony No. 1: The Lord of the Rings by Johan De Meij, Platinum Collection by Leslie Garrett, London Symphony Orchestra Vols 1 & 2 by Frank Zappa, Scruff at Heart by Gilbert O'Sullivan, Mahler: Symphony No. 5, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Morton Gould Conducts with the LSO, The Violin Player with Vanessa Mae, Russian Brass! with the English Brass Ensemble and Festive Brass with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. As a teacher he has taught at many English music educational establishments including the University of Huddersfield and the Guildhall School of Music in London.

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