Biography —

Philippa Davies, flute
Gareth Hulse, oboe
Michael Collins, clarinet
Richard Watkins, horn
Robin O’Neill, bassoon

A stunning combination of virtuoso players who also enjoy active solo careers, London Winds’ performances are renowned for their technical brilliance, interpretative vision and joie de vivre. Founded in 1988 by British clarinettist Michael Collins, the group is now recognised as one of the world’s most prominent chamber ensembles.

The group is flexible in its make-up, augmenting its five original principal members with top international pianists and chamber musicians for certain repertoire. In particular, London Winds have enjoyed close associations with pianists Stephen Kovacevich, Howard Shelley, Pascal Rogé, Barry Douglas and Boris Berezovsky.

Regular guests at all the major British festivals, London Winds has performed at the BBC Proms, City of London, Edinburgh, Huddersfield, Bath, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Cheltenham festivals. UK appearances have also included performances at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Wigmore Hall and at the Bath International Festival.

London Winds has made several recordings including György Ligeti’s complete wind music for Sony Classical as part of their Ligeti Edition, which won the Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and was nominated for a 1999 Grammy. The ensemble has also recorded the complete set of Richard Strauss Wind Symphonies for Hyperion, and Beethoven’s Quintet for Piano & Winds and Spohr’s Septet for Decca, with Pascal Rogé and Chantal Juillet. The London Winds’ latest release is an ONYX recording of Mozart’s Serenade No.10 (‘Gran Partita’) and Mozart’s Serenade in C minor.

London Winds celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018.