Peter Widgery

Horn

Professional French Horn player and Teacher since 1981

Education and Career Outline:

I completed my 5 years of Further Education in 1981 – three years at Oxford University as an undergraduate reading Music, a year on the post-graduate course at the RAM, and a further year of orchestral experience with the National Centre for Orchestral Studies at Goldsmith’s College.

Since 1981, I have pursued a varied and successful career, balancing the demands of life as a freelance professional musician with the commitment of a number of long-standing horn teaching appointments.

Professional Experience:

Since 1987, I have performed regularly with the Orchestra of St John’s, becoming principal 2nd horn in 2008. Since then, I have played 2nd horn to the orchestra’s principal horn, Steve Stirling, but also to guest principals Tim Brown, Peter Francomb, and Mark Paine.

In addition to my work with the OSJ, I regularly perform with the English National Orchestra, the Belmont Ensemble,the English Festival Orchestra, and with various freelance chamber orchestras and ensembles, as both principal and sub-principal.

More recently, chamber music has become an important part of my career. Recent performances in Winchester, Bristol and York have included the Mozart and Beethoven Piano and Wind Quintets, the Poulenc Sextet, and the Mozart Horn Quintet.

Earlier in my career, from 1984 until 2002, I performed extensively for both touring and London-based ballet and opera orchestras, including English National Ballet, London City Ballet and English Touring Opera. Between 1985 and 1996 I also played extensively in West End musicals, including regular deputizing in ‘West Side Story’, ‘’Me and My Girl’, ‘Evita’, ‘Miss Saigon’, and ‘42nd Street’; also a full season of ‘The King and I’ at Sadler's Wells Theatre.

Teaching Posts:

My current, long-standing, teaching commitments comprise the role of Specialist French Horn Tutor at the Cathedral Choir Schools in Winchester (The Pilgrim’s School), Windsor (St Georges) and York (The Minster School), and also at Senior level -in the Home Counties at Winchester College,Charterhouse School, and for the Hampshire Specialist Music Course; in York at St Peter’s and Bootham Schools.

My reputation as a specialist French Horn teacher, built up over more than thirty years experience in the field, is founded on my strong personal commitment to inspire pupils by being not just their teacher, but also their mentor - whatever their standard, and whatever their initial commitment to music - and to equip them fully with the passion, skills,and musicianship necessary to achieve their ambitions and to fulfill their potential. Many of my pupils have indeed gone on to read Music at University, and some half dozen over the past 30 years have gone on to Music College, and are now either pursuing or about to pursue careers as professional musicians.

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MAS takes no responsibility for its accuracy.

Instruments
Horn