Mark Simpson (clarinetist)
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Mark Simpson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 September 1988 Liverpool, England |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Instrument | Clarinet |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Website | marksimpsonmusic |
Mark Simpson (born 26 September 1988) is a British composer and clarinettist from Liverpool. In 2006, he became notable for winning both the BBC Young Musician of the Year (as clarinettist) and the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year, making him the first and, to date, only person to win both competitions.[1]
Simpson attended King David High School, Liverpool and attended the Royal Northern College of Music junior department where he studied clarinet with Nicholas Cox[2] and composition with Gary Carpenter.[3] After a term at the Royal College of Music, Simpson attended St. Catherine's College, Oxford University, reading for a BA in music from 2008 to 2011. He also studied composition with Julian Anderson at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and studied clarinet privately with Mark van de Wiel.[4]
Career as clarinettist
While at school, Simpson was principal clarinet in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.[3] He won the BBC Young Musician of the Year title on 20 May 2006, playing Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with the Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier at The Sage Gateshead.
The following year, he performed at the Last Night of the Proms in Hyde Park, London, performing Artie Shaw's Concerto for Clarinet.[5] On 3 July 2008 he played in Liverpool as the solo clarinettist for the premiere of Emily Howard's Liverpool, The World in One City along with the Liverpool Youth Orchestra and five hundred primary school children.[6]
Other notable concerto performances include Magnus Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto at the 2018 Proms with the BBC Philharmonic,[7] John Adams’s Gnarly Buttons with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and appearances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia City of London Sinfonia and BBC Concert Orchestra.[1]
Simpson has also commissioned and premiered new works including Simon Holt's Joy Beast (2017), a concerto for basset clarinet[8] and Edmund Finnis' Four Duets (2012) for clarinet and piano.[9]
