Claire Marsden is a French horn player, currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music. She was Joint Principal Horn of the National Youth Orchestra from 2023 to 2025 and she reached the final 5 brass players in BBC Young Musician 2024. Claire also happens to be a resident of Ampthill in Bedfordshire and last Friday I was at Ampthill Methodist Church to see her perform with the pianist Sam O'Neal as part of the Ampthill Recitals series. It was great to have the chance to see this brilliant young horn player so close to home, and to see her playing a new Woodhead horn, made for her in Ampthill by Luke Woodhead. She played the whole of the 'Horn Concerto No 1' by Richard Strauss and the first movement of Beethoven's 'Horn Sonata' - both of which I have played myself (though not in public!). She also introduced me to pieces for the horn by Eugene Bozza, Paul Dukas and Sigurd Verge - all of which were very enjoyable and technically impressive. Claire spoke well to the audience (and seemed to relax more into her playing after speaking). It was wonderful to see her in concert at this early stage in her career.
No comments:
Post a Comment