Richard Watkins

He was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1985 to 1996,[1] a position he relinquished to devote more time to his solo career.

He has appeared as soloist in the Royal Festival Hall, at the Barbican Centre and abroad with conductors such as Carlo Maria Giulini, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Slatkin, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Andrew Davis and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky.

His recordings include Sir Malcolm Arnold's two horn concertos for the Conifer Classics label, to great critical acclaim, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Philharmonia and Giuseppe Sinopoli for Deutsche Grammophon; other recordings include the Mozart Horn Concertos with Richard Hickox for Pickwick and chamber music recordings, both as soloist and as a chamber musician, for a variety of labels.

Richard Watkins is closely associated with promoting contemporary music for horn; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies wrote 'Sea Eagle' (solo horn) for him in 1983 and since then, Richard Watkins has given the world premiere of David Matthews' 'Capriccio' in a concert at the Wigmore Hall to commemorate Dennis Brain's 70th Anniversary and Nigel Osborne's 'The Sun of Venice' with the Philharmonia.

[3] Richard Watkins is in great demand for master classes both in the UK and abroad.