He is a composer, trumpeter, conductor and author born in Cannock, Staffordshire, England to a family who were very much involved in brass bands, with his father being a conductor. He became a member of the ensemble his father led when he was 10 years old, and by the time he was fourteen he had made it to being Principal Cornet.
His took his studies at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music and while there he teamed up with his co-students Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr, Harrison Birtwhistle and John Ogdon and formed the group New Music Manchester. After graduating he started out as a trumpeter in the Royal Opera House went on to work with many of Britain’s major orchestras and ensembles as a trumpeter and conductor such as The Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Air Force Band, London Sinfonietta, Fodens Courteois Band and has also worked with several brass ensembles such as Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
Conducting many classical and brass concerts, he has also led the opera on several occasions with him conducting Gawain by Harrison Birtwistle at London’s Royal Opera House and Gyorgy Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre at Stockholm’s Grand Opera. In 1997 his work in opera was recognised when he received the Lawrence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his work on Henze’s The Prince of Homburg and Zimmerman’s Die Soldaten.
As an acclaimed composer he has contributed considerably to the brass music repertoire and has had his works premiered and recorded by the acclaimed trumpeter Hakan Hardenburger and brass bands that include the Eikanger-Bjorsvik Band and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. His works include “Cornet Concerto”, “Canto” and “Capriccio”.
His huge repertoire of recordings include,Wagner: Lohengrin and Eric Ball: The Undaunted with the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Sousa Marches: Stars and Stripes Forever, Greatest Hits. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, and Weekend Brass: Trumpet Voluntary with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Howarth, Kings Messenger and Fireworks with the Eikanger-Bjorsvik Band, Music: It’s Role and Importance in Our Lives, Melody Maker Tribute to Louis Armstrong.
In the world of popular music he appeared on the title track of The Beatles’ 1967 Magical Mystery Tour, and he has appeared as the conductor on the 1971 movie 200 Motels.
Several of his works are now held at the School of Music at the University of East Anglia. As an author his works include What a Performance! Brass Band Plays published in 1988.
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble recordings
The Agincourt Song (Anonymous)
Decca B0000807 (2003, CD: Music from the Royal Court)
Here he is conducting the Grimethorpe Colliery Band when they won the 1972 Granada Television Brass Band of the Year…
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgar_Howarth
- http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Elgar%20Howarth:1927411007:page=biography
- http://www.dacapo-records.dk/?page=artist&id=1116&k=1
- http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=Elgar+Howarth&index=blended&page=1
- http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Elgar%20Howarth:1927411007
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1850139/
- http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3772464&JRSource=nsa&nsa=1
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Mystery_Tour