Katherine Waffy Spencer

PRINCIPAL CLARINET

Katherine Spencer is principal clarinet of The City of London Sinfonia, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and Players, The Irish Chamber Orchestra and a busy freelance player with Britain’s leading orchestras. Katherine made her concerto debut at the Royal Festival Hall aged 14 and has since performed there as concerto soloist many times. She has appeared as soloist in all of Britain’s major concert venues with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. She has made numerous live Radio 3 solo broadcasts and has presented programmes on the BBC, and performs regularly on Classic FM and European radio stations on both modern and period instruments. She has recorded the Brahms Sonatas and Beethoven Trio for the Oxford Classic label and a large number of her chamber discs for Deux Elles have had much critical acclaim. Her competition prizes include the Yamaha European Foundation Award, and winner of the Concertina Praga competition, which led to solo tours throughout Europe and Asia. She continues to perform internationally with her piano duo partner Sam Haywood. As a chamber musician, Katherine is a longstanding member of the Galliard Ensemble, who perform across the world in festivals such as the BBC Proms and the Barbican’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Among Katherine’s notable performances are the first live concert broadcast in Buckingham Palace, and a private solo performance for the Emperor of Japan. Katherine is a professor of clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music in London, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and gives regular master classes, lecture recitals and tuition in many of Britain’s leading conservatoires and universities, and is equally committed to bringing classical music to life to the wider community, in venues such as hospices, hospitals, day centres, schools and care homes.

Recent season highlights include a concerto tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under principal conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, pick of the week with the BBC for her most recent CD release “From the beginning” with pianist Sam Haywood and the Galliard Ensemble and a 2 hour broadcast for BBC radio 3 presenting an eclectic mix of music from classical to cheesy pop.