Laurence Davies
Horn
Laurence Davies has recently left the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra having joined as their Principal Horn in June 2008. He previously held the same position with the Philharmonia Orchestra for 10 years. In both of these positions and as guest principal with the L.S.O., L.P.O. and C.B.S.O he has worked with many of the world’s leading musicians in the most prestigious concert halls at home and abroad. During this time Laurence has also been invited to perform as concerto soloist most notably in Mozart’s 4th horn concerto which he played in the Dennis Brain 50th anniversary memorial concert conducted by Barry Tuckwell with the Philharmonia and for a live Mozart DVD with the RPO. He is also one of the soloists on the celebrated Deutsche Grammophon recording of Schumann’s Konzertstuck for four horns and orchestra with Christian Thielemann and the Philharmonia. Laurence has also enjoyed performing Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with several of the UK’s most renowned tenors including Philip Langridge, Ian Partridge, Ian Bostridge, Mark Padmore and Charles Daniel.
In addition to orchestral playing Laurence is an experienced chamber musician performing both with the RPO and Philharmonia’s own ensembles and with established groups such as the Nash Ensemble, London Winds, the Razumovsky Ensemble and the Britten Sinfonia. In 2006 Laurence was invited by Charles Dutoit and Chantal Juillet to become part of an international faculty of leading players from Canada, the USA and Europe establishing new summer music academies in China and South Korea. In this time the faculty has enjoyed introducing challenging orchestral and chamber music repertoire to young professionals chosen from the host country.
Laurence has also been busy on the London studio scene over the last 20 years and can be heard on a great many film and TV scores from Willow up until most recently Goodbye Christopher Robin and Avengers: Infinity War.
Laurence also has a BA in archaeology and classical studies and runs a tour company called Oldbury Tours from his home in Wiltshire.