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A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Barnaby Robson then studied as a Fulbright Scholar at The Juilliard School in New York. During this time, he won the School's Clarinet Concerto Prize performing the Copland Clarinet Concerto in a series of concerts at New York's Lincoln Centre. On his return to London Barnaby's playing was described by The Times as "imperturbably virtuosic", and by the London Evening Standard as "stunning".
His interest in original instrument performance has led him to perform the Mozart Clarinet Concerto on a bassett-clarinet of the period, he has also recorded two Vivaldi wind concerti with the Academy of Ancient Music for the London Decca label as well as Mozart's Serenade in Bb 'Thirteen Wind' for a BBC CD. He performs and records frequently for period instrument orchestras including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Sir Simon Rattle.
Barnaby has a wealth of experience as a chamber musician and is a founder member of the Zanfonia Trio. With the trio, he has performed and recorded much of the clarinet, violin and piano repertoire, the BBC Music Magazine praising their most recent recording as 'a fine disc... leaving me hungry to hear more'.
He has also performed the three major clarinet quintets of Mozart,Weber and Brahms with ensembles such as the Belcea, Emperor and Bochman Quartets. With the ensemble Conchord he has recorded the Plouenc Clarinet Sonata for ASV together with other works for wind and piano. He is also a regular performer with the London Winds including several live BBC broadcasts and foreign festival tours.
As a keen exponent of contemporary music, Barnaby has commissioned several works for clarinet and piano, performed with the London Sinfonietta and recorded new music by Thomas Adés for the EMI Debut label. He recently performed the American premiere of 'Throne' by Poul Ruders and recorded and performed Steve Reich's 'New York Counterpoint' for clarinet and tape at London's South Bank Centre to great critical acclaim. His recording has subsequently been used in other performances on BBC Radio 3, in the UK and the Middle East.
As a busy orchestral musician, Barnaby's playing has taken him to the United States, Hong Kong, Japan and Europe with orchestras including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Opera House Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Munich State Opera.
As Principal Clarinet with Glyndebourne Touring Opera, he performed the two solo clarinet obligatos 'Parto, parto' & 'Non piu di fiori' in their recent production of Mozart's 'La Clemenza di Tito', receiving special praise for his performances from the critics of the Sunday Times, London Evening Standard and the Sunday Observer.
Barnaby's most recent work as a soloist was to record excerpts of the Louis Spohr Clarinet Concertos No's 1 & 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra for the Miramax film 'With or Without You'.
Barnaby is Professor of Clarinet at the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, the Guildhall School of Music & the Royal College, London. He was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Philharmonia Orchestra in March 2000. |
