He is an English trumpeter who studied at the Royal Academy of Music and started his professional career in music as a member of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra when he was 16 years old.
In 1983 he was made a full member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and has remained with them ever since. In the 1980s he was a member of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and performed at the last concert conducted by Elgar Howarth in 1986, which was the same year that Philip Jones announced his retirement with the last recording made being PJBE Finale.
He ha been a member of the English Brass Ensemble, the second trumpet of the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble, joined the English Sinfonia in 2003, and has been the Principal Trumpet for the Oxford Philomusica since 1998. He has also appeared with the Jupiter Orchestra, which is based in London and performs at various venues in their local area.
A featured artist on several recordings, he can be heard on CDs such as American Music for Brass by the London Gabrieli Ensemble and Symphonic Beatles by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a teacher he has been involved in many educational activities and since 1996 has been a trumpet tutor at the London College of Music.
Sources:
- http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/pjbe/
- http://www.amazon.ca/American-Music-Brass-Charles-Ives/dp/B000002ZQ2
- http://www.jupiterorchestra.org.uk/orchbiography.htm
- http://www.lgbe.co.uk/history.htm
- http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Atkins_Joseph_605074289.aspx