Pyatt, David (26th September 1973-Present)

French horn player from Watford, England, who attended Cambridge University and Watford Grammar School and studied with Julie Lord and Frank Lloyd. He went on to become principal horn of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

In 1993, he made his solo debut with “Horn Concerto No. 2” by Richard Strauss at the BBC Proms.

After serving as principal horn with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, he took the same position with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1998.

He returned to the BBC Proms in 1999 in a performance of “Horn Concerto” by Oliver Knussen with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Other groups with whom he has worked include the English Chamber Orchestra, the Gala Festival Strings, the Halle Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Maggini Quartet, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Scottish Opera, and the Welsh Chamber Orchestra.

In 2003, as part of the BBC Chamber Proms, he and Leon McCawley and Gordan Nikolitch interpreted trios by Johannes Brahms and Gyorgy Ligeti.

He performed “Horn Concerto No. 1” by Richard Strauss with the BBC Symphony at the Last Night of the Proms and “Concerto for Horn” by Carl Maria von Weber with the Northern Sinfonia at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2004.

On 29^th and 30^th September 2004, he performed “Sinfonia Concertante” by Richard Bissill with the LSO at the Barbican.

He helped celebrate Richard Rodney Bennett’s 70^th birthday with a performance of the composer’s “Actaeon” by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, also at Barbican Hall in April 2006. In the fall of 2006, he performed with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the Prague Autumn Festival.

He gave the world premiere of “Rainforest IV” by John McCabe with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in February 2007.

On 27^th October 2007, he participated in the British Horn Festival with performances of “Concerto” by York Bowen and “In Memoriam” by Benjamin Britten.

He was a guest soloist of the Reading Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Horn Concerto No. 3” at St. Paul’s Church in Wokingham, Berkshire, on 2^nd April 2011.

In 2012, he and the LSO went separate ways and he became the principal horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2019 he became the Principal Horn of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

He was a guest soloist of Sinfonia Cymru and they performed “Concertino for Horn” by William Mathias and “Horn Concerto No. 2” by Mozart at Dora Stoutzker Hall in Cardiff on 26^th October 2012. On 28^th October 2012, they reprised these works at the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre in Kingsway, Newport, South Wales.

Recordings on which David appears include: Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”/Symphony No. 2, The Dust Bowl Symphony, Holst: The Planets, and Music of Hope with the LSO; Brahms: Trios, Vol. 2 with the Gould Piano Trio; British Horn Concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings/Les Illuminations/Nocturne and Strauss: Horn Concertos Nos. 1 & 2/Duett Concertino/Serenade for Wind with the Britten Sinfonia; Guildhall Horn Soloists with the Guildhall School Horn Ensemble; Mozart: Horn Concertos/Horn Quintet with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields; Recital with Martin Jones; and, William Mathias: Songs of William Blake/Horn Concerto/Intrada/Threnos with the Welsh Chamber Orchestra.

He can also be heard on the soundtracks of Blood Diamond, Defiance, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, 300, 25^th Hour, Twilight, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 2.

Gamers may have heard him without he knowing it: He performed on the soundtrack of Halo 4.

In the field of music education, he has served on the faculty of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and given master classes to the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.

Sources:

Pyatt, David (26th September 1973-Present)

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