Andrew Clark, principal

After 24 years working as a musician based in London, England, Andrew Clark moved to British Columbia in 2010 and began playing principal horn with PBO in 2013. His concert performances have taken him to 45 countries around the world, working with more than 60 professional orchestras and ensembles from 10 different nations. As a soloist he has appeared alongside musical directors such as Sir Charles Mackerras, Franz Bruggen, Robin Ticciati, Trevor Pinnock and Monica Huggett, and has also recorded as soloist for EMI, Hyperion, Archiv and Linn.

As a world renowned performer on historical horns, he has played every piece by Bach that includes a horn (most of which are recorded with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra); performed live on BBC radio 3 the highest notes written for the instrument, by Haydn (in the concert aria Pieta di Me); and performed and recorded (twice) all of Brahms’ symphonies on a Vienna horn. For 16 seasons, he played at Glyndebourne Opera House and has taken part in a large number of opera recordings, including (on three separate occasions) the obbligato horn aria from Handel’s Giulio Cesare. As a soloist in later repertoire, he has performed Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, recorded the premiere of the Sonata da Caccia by Thomas Adès and more recently, performed and recorded the newly composed Concertino for Horn and String Orchestra by Stephen Chatman.

Since 2002, Andrew has trained in brass instrument manufacture and set up his own speciality workshop for custom building and repair. To date he has built more than 20 horns, trumpets and sackbuts, several with unique design features. Many of his instruments are used by leading players in some of the worlds’ finest orchestras.