Professor of Saxophone at the Guildhall for over 10 years, he is currently Visiting Professor of Saxophone at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and has given masterclasses at the Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music and the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music.

Simon has appeared with the Fitkin Band, Michael Nyman Band, Nash Ensemble, Composers’ Ensemble and allLondon Orchestras. He was appointed Principal Saxophone of the London Sinfonietta in 1997. He recently joined Will Gregory’s Synth Orchestra as EWI and keyboard player.

As a soloist, Simon has appeared with the London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Soloists of the Royal Opera House, Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Simon has given several world premieres, including: Andrew Poppy's double concerto Horn, Horn, commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for Simon & John Harle, Dave Heath's Moroccan Fantasy commissioned for Simon by the East of England Orchestra and Tan Dun's Orchestral Theatre III: Red Forecast with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the 1996 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. 

The London Sinfonietta have commissioned two solo works for Simon. The Colour of Scars, a new concerto by Fraser Trainer, which was given its world premiere at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in May 2001 and iris, by Tansy Davis, which was premiered at the Cheltenham Festival in 2004.

Simon has been recording primarily for the Black Box Music label in recent years, and his first solo CD for them, entitled On Fire, was released in 1998 and features six world premiere recordings of British saxophone music with piano and electronics. Subsequently, Alone… (1999) featuring minimalist songs and themes and Frame (2001) including the world premiere recording of Michael Nyman’s The Piano Sings, have been released to critical acclaim. A recording of Michael Nyman's concerto, Where the Bee Dances with the Ulster Orchestra was released on the Naxos label and Simon has also made CD's with Virgin Classics and Cala Records.

Noel Langley has been working as a freelance trumpet player based in London since 1986.  He attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he studied trumpet with Bernard brown, Maurice Murphy, Ray Simmons, Philip Jones, and Ian Carr. Noel was introduced to the teachings of Carmine Caruso by trombonist, Cliff Hardie in 1984 at the Wavendon Summer School, which proved to be a turning point in his playing career. Noel played Lead Trumpet with the award winning Guildhall Jazz band for four years and held the lead trumpet chair with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for three years.

In 1986 Noel was offered a scholarship to attend the Tanglewood summer school by Leonard Bernstein after playing first trumpet on the composer’s Mass and Prelude Fugues and Riffs during a two week long project at the Barbican. After graduating he continued his studies, traveling to the USA on several occasions to study with Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Jerome Callet and Uan Rasey.

Today Noel is widely regarded as amongst the finest trumpet players in Europe. As a lead trumpet player he specialises in contemporary British jazz. He came to prominence as an associate member of Loose Tubes and has since gone on to play lead trumpet with every major British big band of the last 20 years, including those fronted by Mike Westbrook, Stan Tracey, Tim Garland, Julian Joseph, Stan Sulzmann and Gwilym Simcock. Noel has also been a member of John Dankworth’s band since 1988.

In 1991 he founded the London Jazz Orchestra, based on the model of New York’s Monday night bands, which has recorded three albums and toured Europe with Billy Cobham. Noel was lead trumpet with Andrew Hill’s critically acclaimed Anglo American Big Band and on their final tour acted as musical director. Most recently he was delighted to join Harry Connick Junior’s American band on a European tour, playing 2nd trumpet to the great Roger Ingram. Noel has been very active in London’s West End, having performed in over 50 musicals including Into The Woods, Carmen Jones, Sunset Boulevard and The Producers.

He has also played as guest principal trumpet or soloist with all of the major symphony orchestras in London including the LSO, RPO and the London Sinfonietta. Spring 2008 saw the world premier performance of Dominic Murcott’s ‘The Hangman Frames’ a new interactive multimedia work for trumpet and computer.  Noel has been Professor of Trumpet at the GSMD since 1990 and also teaches students from the Royal Academy of Music and privately from home.

Nick studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he is presently a member of the staff teaching multi instrumental skills.

His ever widening experiences within a diverse career include more than 20 positions in West End theatre productions; amongst these, Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables, The Producers and Sister Act to name a few.

He performs with orchestras both in the UK and abroad, including the BBC Concert Orchestra, Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, WDR Radio and Trondheim Symphony Orchestras.

Film work includes credited soloist on "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" and Nick Hornby's "An Education".

His many TV and concert appearances include performances with Shirley Bassey, Lionel Richie, Ute Lemper, Chaka Kahn and numerous Royal Variety Performances.

Nick is proud to be a original member of The Graham Fitkin Group having performed with Graham for over 10 years.



 

In 1998 Adrian Spillett became the first percussionist to win the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award. He then took third prize in the Eurovision Grand Prix for Young Musicians in Vienna.

After graduating from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2000 he formed the Percussion Quartet 4-MALITY, which has performed at nearly all the British music festivals including the BBC Proms, as well as making numerous television and radio broadcasts. In addition to being the first British percussion group to have participated at the Taipei Percussion Festival in Taiwan, 4-MALITY has also been on a recent tour of Australia.

Adrian has appeared as a soloist with the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool, Royal Philharmonic, Austrian Radio Symphony and Irish Chamber orchestras. Among the other orchestras and ensembles with whom he has recently worked are the City of Birmingham and BBC Symphony Orchestras, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the London Sinfonietta, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

His concerto performances include Macmillan's Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, Keiko Abe's Prism Rhapsody II, Joseph Schwantner's Percussion Concerto, and the world premiere of Dinuk Wijeratne's Percussion Concerto.

One of Britain’s most diverse percussionists, Joby is best known for his work performing new music. He regularly collaborates with artists such as Joanna MacGregor, John Kenny, James Wood, Stewart Copeland, Michael Finnissy, Nitin Sawhney and Sarah Leonard, as well as being a member of Britain’s leading percussion quartet ensemblebash.

Joby own projects explore his passions for virtuosic drumming, movement and electronics; and as a soloist he has made several broadcasts for BBC radio, and given performances across the UK, Europe and the USA. His duo new noise, with oboist Janey Miller, commissions and promotes a challenging new sound, founding it's own record label 'NNL' in 2003; whilst his collective PowerPlant explores hi-octane percussion-led music, with an electronic sound and strong visual performance. Brining together sound designer Matthew Fairclough, the Elysian Quartet and visual artist Kathy Hinde, PowerPlant has recently become artist in residence at FACT, Liverpool, and will perform as part of the Barbican's Steve Reich festival 'Phases' later this year.

Recent highlights have included premieres of 'Zero Degrees' with Akram Khan and Sidi Labi at Sadlers Wells, London; Karen Francis concerto 'The Earth Wakes...' Queens Hall, Edinburgh; and a two-week residency at the VCA culminating in performances as part of the Melbourne Festival, Australia.

Joby has also worked with the London Sinfonietta, Endymion, Composers Ensemble, Ixion, National Theatre Ensemble, Gemini, ECAT Ensemble, Sculpted Sound, Lontano, Brunel Ensemble, Britten Sinfonia, Continuum Ensemble, Nash Ensemble and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The guitarist Alan Thomas was born in Atlanta, and completed his studies at Indiana University and the University of California at San Diego.  Based in the UK since 1997, he is much in demand as a recitalist and concerto soloist in music ranging from the Renaissance to the present day, but has been particularly dedicated to contemporary music and the exploration of new sonic resources of the guitar.

He has given world premières of over fifty works, including pieces by Laurence Crane, Gabriel Erkoreka, Michael Finnissy, Christopher Fox, and Bryn Harrison, and in 1997 became the only guitarist ever to win first prize in the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition in Holland. His further competition successes include top-prizes in the American Artistic Ambassador, MTNA and Guitar Foundation of America competitions.

Alan has performed extensively throughout the UK, Europe, the United States and Asia, and has been featured at international festivals including Aldeburgh, Spitalfields, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Bath Guitar Festival, Gaudeamus Festival, Ultima, Berlin Festival and the Guitar Foundation of America Festival. His performances have been broadcast on radio worldwide, and he has recorded compact discs on the Accord, Métier, Matchless Records, NMC and Guitar Classics labels, including a critically acclaimed recent release of his own Lennon/McCartney arrangements called The Long and Winding Road.

In recent years he has become increasingly active as a composer, focusing on solo and ensemble works for guitar. Highlights of 2007-08 include the world premiere of Alan's concerto Rhapsody on a Spanish Theme, as well as new works commissioned by the Cavatina Duo and the Midlands Fretted Orchestra.

Scottish harpist Ruth Wall specializes in the development and performance of new music. She is regarded as one of the UK’s leading harpists -  specializing in lever harp, buzzing Renaissance bray harp,  Gaelic wire strung harp and concert harp.

Ruth performs as a soloist and in some of the most exciting ensembles and bands (Goldfrapp, Fitkin) based in UK. She recently toured to Japan, Australia, USA, Canada and throughout Europe and Scandinavia, including performances at Monza Milan, Spiral Hall Tokyo, Queen’s Hall Edinburgh, The Sage Gateshead, Bristol Old Vic and QEH in London.

She has worked with the BBC Singers and Philharmonia Orchestra and often collaborates with musicians, artists and dancers on new commissions. This year she has worked with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Portishead’s Adrian Utley, composer Gavin Bryars, conductor Charles Hazelwood, Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory and saxophonist Andy Sheppard.

Ruth has won several prizes including the John Ireland Prize and the Laurence Davies Memorial Award. She has worked alongside several celebrated British composers such as Howard Skempton, Laurence Crane, Gabriel Jackson and Peter Maxwell Davies, building up a repertoire of new works for the lever harp. Her first solo album The Uncommon Harp was released in December 2004.

Since 2003 Ruth has worked closely with her partner, the composer Graham Fitkin, and in 2005 toured film and music project KAPLAN (based on the fictitious character in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest) in Japan and UK.

In 2007 the new Fitkin Wall CD STILL WARM was released and toured throughout UK and Italy. The music centred on juxtaposing Ruth’s early harps with new electronics and live visuals from visual artist Mark Silver and Nick Corrigan.  She now performs, records and tours with his new 9 piece ensemble FITKIN.

Ruth composes and performs her own works on harp - broadcasts include Radio 3 commissions and Radio 4 Classic Serial. She has worked with theatre director Cal McCrystal and in 2003 wrote the music for a new film which won Best Silent Film prize in the First Light Film awards. She has composed for the BBC Singers, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Cheltenham and Spitalfields Festivals and worked as a presenter on BBC Radio 3.

In 2007/8 Ruth recorded and toured Europe, USA and Australia playing harps and keyboard with Goldfrapp on the Seventh Tree tour, performed at the Jerwood Opera Writing Programme in Aldeburgh and collaborated with pianist Sarah Nicolls on an improvisation project involving prepared harps, piano and live electronics.   She developed and performed with fellow harpist Rhodri Davies on a new programme for 2 harps centred on patterns. She also toured a new solo programme of works for wire and lever harps in Sweden.

In 2009 she worked with the celebrated Pharoe’s musician Teitur on Nolwenn Leroy's new album Le Cheshire Cat e moi. She joined Joby Burgess’s New Noise in their Cardew project and collaborated with visual artist Alessandra Ausenda on a major new art/sound installation involving a huge dress, a battery of sewing machines and live sewing machinists.

Projects in 2010/11 see Ruth touring extensively and recording on bray and lever harps with Fitkin, a new ensemble for 9 musicians playing high energy, multi rhythmic works as well as working on her latest album /touring project involving new collaborations with celebrated UK artists and musicians. She has performed with Rhodri Davies in a major John Cage retrospective at the Baltic in Gateshead and collaborated at Maida Vale with singer Cevanne on a Late Junction Session.  She is also touring in UK, USA and Canada a new score by Adrian Utley and Will Gregory for mixed ensemble to accompany Dreyer’s classic 1928 silent film, the Passion of Joan of Arc.

She has recorded for EMI, Mercury Music, Sony BMG, GFR and Universal.

John Lunn is a bass player and composer.  Classically trained yet contemporary in attitude, he combines a highly intelligent and sensitive approach, with a sound that always finds the emotional core.

For film, John scored the new IMAX film Giant Screen Bugs, narrated by Dame Judi Dench for Principal Films. Other film credits include the FilmFour/Shane Meadows film Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (Kathy Burke, Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans), Get Real, directed by Simon Shore, winner of the Audience Award, Edinburgh and Dinard International Festivals, and The Wisdom Of Crocodiles, directed by Po Chih Leong for Zenith Films.

John’s TV credits range from the BBC’s flagship productions of Cambridge Spies, Lorna Doone, Madame Bovary (directed by Tim Fywell) and Murder Rooms, to the Channel Four/Company series North Square, World Productions 12 part series Outlaws, Scottish Television’s thriller Sirens, and the Ska Films/Ginger production, Lock Stock and.... His score to Getting Hurt, the BBC Screen Two Film, won the Royal Television Society’s award for Best Original Music. His music to Bad Blood (Carlton) was also nominated for an Ivor Novello Award. John scored the critically acclaimed BBC series Bleak House (RTS Awards 2006 - nomination for Best Score), Hotel Babylon for Carnival Films / BBC (for which he was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award), and the Granada biopic based on the moors murderers, See No Evil, as well as Sorted for the BBC. He scored The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard for the BBC, starring Jane Horrocks, and the Bafta award winning Victoria Wood penned drama, Housewife 49 for ITV, along with Frankenstein for Impossible Pictures. He went on to score Torn for Jeremy Gwilt and TXTV, series 2 of the acclaimed Jimmy McGovern scripted, The Street for Granada, and has recently completed Hotel Babylon (Series 4) for Carnival/BBC. He recently completed scoring Criminal Justice an RTS Award Winner 2008 for Best Original Score for the BBC, Harley Street for Carnival Productions/ITV1, and very recently scored the 14 part Andrew Davies' Dickens adaptation Little Dorrit, for the BBC (BAFTA Craft Nomination 2009).

Other major credits include the music for Second Sight, directed by Charles Beeson for 20/20 TV/BBC, the original series of 2000 Acres of Sky as well as Hamish MacBeth for BBC/Zenith and the Carlton/Zenith series Bodyguards. For his score to Back Up, The Guardian wrote ‘..cracking stuff, pure Bernard Hermann, and more sheer menace than anything you’ve heard...’. He wrote the music for Ghostbusters of East Finchley (BBC2), a jazz score for the YTV/Zenith series Finney (directed by David Hayman), and a largely period score for the Last Machine, a five part documentary drama for BBC/Illumination, presented by Terry Gilliam.

John’s earlier credits include Cormorant, a BBC Screen Two Film starring Ralph Fiennes, the Prairie Pictures feature The Life Of Stuff, directed by Simon Donald and produced by Linda Myles, The Gift, a BBC Screenplay production, Beatrix, a BBC drama starring Helena Bonham-Carter; Second Thoughts, written by Anthony Minghella and starring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones; and After The Dance for the BBC’s Performance series.

Amongst John’s classical works, his violin concerto was premiered by Clio Gould and the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall last year and his two operas, Misper and Zoe (filmed and broadcast by Channel 4 in 2001) were written for Glydenbourne. In 1998 he wrote the opera Mathematics Of a Kiss with Anthony Minghella and Orlando Gough for the English National Opera. In 2005 John was commissioned by Glyndebourne Opera to write his latest opera Tangier Tattoo to be directed by Stephen Langridge.