Ben Thomson

Principal Tuba, Board Member

Member since 2019 | Tutor at Guildhall School of Music & Drama | Tutor at National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

Like many LSO brass players, my musical life began in local brass bands in the north west of England. My path to becoming an orchestral tuba player was sparked by joining the National Youth Orchestra where we were tutored by my LSO predecessor, Patrick Harrild.

Ben Thomson joined the LSO in 2019. Prior to this appointment he held the Principal Tuba positions with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from 2013, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 2011 to 2013. Ben studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and has since performed with orchestras across the UK and from around the world, including the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra in the Sydney Opera House, and a long-term contract with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra.

He won the BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Soloist of the Year in both 2006 and 2007. Since winning the prizes, Ben has performed concertos with such ensembles as the Ulster Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and Black Dyke Brass Band. In 2022, Ben gave the UK and European premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto for Tubist with the LSO at the Barbican, London.

What piece would you recommend to a first-time listener?

Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony. The piece depicts a dramatic story of climbing a mountain. It’s so vivid and colourful it could be the score to a movie – full of cliff-hangers!