Brass

Click to open biography

Timothy Jones started playing the horn at the age of 15 and won a position playing in the Munich Philharmonic at the age of 17. He has previously held positions with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Academy of St Martins in the Fields. As a soloist he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Hall and the Schausspielhaus in Berlin. His recording of the Kenneth Fuchs Horn Concerto with the LSO was nominated for a Grammy award.

Tim has collaborated with André Previn, Christoph Eschenbach, Heinz Holliger, Martha Argerich, Gil Shaham and Yuri Bashmet. He is Professor of Horn at the Royal College of Music and Director and Co-Owner of the renowned horn company PAXMAN Limited. 

Click to open biography

Having started horn lessons with her mother aged eight, Angela Barnes went on to study at Chetham’s School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music &Drama, where she has recently been invited to return as Professor of Horn. During her final year of study she was offered the second horn position with the LSO, and upon joining became the first female member of the brass section.

A keen chamber musician, Angela features in the second instalment of the Cala Records ‘London Horn Sound’ series and appears alongside tenor Allan Clayton in Britten’s Canticle Three, recorded for BBC Radio Three as part of the New Generation Artists scheme. Solo appearances include Strauss’ Second Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra as part of the BBC YMOTY 2002 Final, and as part of the solo quartet in Schumann’s Konzertstuck with the LSO. She is very much a cat person, currently besotted by her cross-eyed ginger tom, Eddie.

Click to open biography

Lancashire-born horn player Alexander Edmundson has been Co-Principal Horn of the LSO since 2015. He studied with Jeffrey Bryant at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, before continuing as a Master of Music scholar at the Royal College of Music under Simon Rayner.

Outside of the LSO, Alexander regularly performs internationally as Guest Principal with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He also frequently works on many film sessions, including as Principal Horn on the 2018 Oscar-winning movie (Best Picture and Best Original Soundtrack), Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water.

Click to open biography

Principal Trumpet of the LSO since 2017, David Elton is also a Professor at the Royal College of Music in London and a member of the Australian National Academy of Music brass faculty in Melbourne. He has performed as a Guest Principal Trumpet with the New York Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Australian World Orchestra.

David has performed as a soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, as well as the London Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. An active chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Australian Brass Quintet.

Click to open biography

Niall Keatley began his musical studies aged nine at the City of Belfast School of Music. He was a member of the City of Belfast Youth Orchestra and also played with a number of brass bands. Niall was Principal Trumpet of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, performing in some of Europe’s finest concert halls. Niall was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music where his teachers included, Ian Balmain, James Watson and John Wallace. During this time Niall was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and spent a short time with the Black Dyke Mills Brass Band.

In 2002 Niall performed Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto with the Ulster Orchestra as part of the BBC Last Night of the Proms, Proms in the Park series. As well as being a member of Onyx brass, Niall has performed with a number of chamber ensembles including London Brass, LSO Brass, London Winds and the Wallace Collection.

Click to open biography

Peter Moore came to national attention in 2008 at the age of twelve when he became the youngest ever winner of the BBC Young Musician. Alongside his performing career, he is Professor of Trombone at the Royal Academy of Music.

As a soloist, Peter has appeared with the LSO, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBCNOW, BBC Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony and Polish Chamber Orchestra. He is featured frequently on BBC Radio 3 and was a New Generation Artist between 2015–17. He has given recitals at venues including the Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Cologne Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall and has undertaken recital tours across China, Japan, Korea, Australasia and South America.  World premieres by Francisco Coll, Roxanna Panufnik and the UK premiere of James Macmillan’s Trombone Concerto signify Peter’s desire to bring the trombone to the forefront of contemporary music. In 2018 he released his debut album, Life Force.

Peter is a Yamaha International Artist.

Click to open biography

James Maynard began playing the trombone in the Salvation Army and went on to study with Dudley Bright at the Royal Academy of Music. He has been Second Trombone with the LSO since 1998.

He is also active as a composer, having been commissioned to write a number of works mainly for brass. His most recent commission, Urban Variations, was written for trombonist Peter Moore's debut recital at Wigmore Hall.

Click to open biography

Paul Milner was born in Edinburgh and after a musical education, moved to Manchester to study the bass trombone at the Royal Northern College of Music. On leaving the RNCM with a Diploma in Professional Performance, Paul freelanced with some of the UK's leading orchestras, before becoming Principal Bass Trombone with the Orchestra of Opera North, Leeds in 1993. Having spent 14 years there, the position of LSO Principal Bass Trombone became vacant.

He continues to perform around the world with the LSO, as well as playing on numerous soundtracks and recordings. Paul is committed to LSO Discovery, playing trombone to children in hospitals, coaching gifted children and participating in community projects. He has also been the brass coach for the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra for the last ten years. Paul plays Yamaha instruments and has recently become a Yamaha Artist.

Click to open biography

Ben Thomson studied at the Royal Northern College of Music Junior School and then went on to study for his degree at the college. 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, and has given recitals for the Manchester Midday Concert Series in Bridgewater Hall, Leeds International Concert Season and RNCM’s international Festival of Brass.

Ben was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the European Union Youth Orchestra. He has since performed with most of the UK’s orchestras, including as Principal Tuba of the orchestra of the Royal Opera House and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and has also worked abroad including with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Sydney Opera House, and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra.