Saunders, Stephen

He is a euphonium, tuba and sackbut player, a trombonist and teacher who studied music at the Trinity College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in the latter half of the 1960s through to 1972. His studies at the Guildhall saw him concentrating on the trombone, euphonium and tuba, which would lead him to taking an interest in the historical bass sackbut.

His pursuit of early music revival saw him founding and/or co-founding the Academy of Ancient Music, the Age of Enlightenment and The London Classical Players and prolifically recording with them.

Much in demand, he has appeared with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, His Magesty’s Sagbutts & Cornetts, Orchestra Romantic e Revolutionaire, the Monteverdi Choir, the London Baroque Soloists, Orchestra of the 18^th Century, the London Symphony Brass Ensemble, spent an 18-year period with The National Philharmonic Orchestra and in 1992 became the Principal Bass Trombone of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. At the same time as all this, he has worked as a session musician in the recording studio with a huge variety of artists that include Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Sir Elton John, Julie Andrews, Benny Hill, Pink Floyd, Sir Paul McCartney, Michael Nyman and The Carpenters. His work can be heard on numerous recordings including Beyond the End of the Century with the Juilliard School Trombone Choir, Berlioz: Grande Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale with the Wallace Collection, Festive Brass and Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, The Kiss and Other Movements by Michael Nyman and Bruckner: Motets with the Choir of St. Bride’s Church.

In musical education he has been a teacher of the sackbut and trombone at the Guildhall School of Music.

Here is Michael Nyman’s “Tango Between the Lines” from his The Kiss and Other Movements which Stephen performs on…

https://youtu.be/PbMP804_oLU

Sources:

Saunders, Stephen

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