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Laurence Perkins (Bassoon)

Laurence Perkins is one of Britain’s best-known solo bassoonists. Laurence has given many solo concert performances throughout the UK and Europe, including recitals at the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room in London, concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra (at St. John’s, Smith Square) and with Manchester Camerata, and numerous overseas concerts including France, Portugal and Prague.

Laurence was principal bassoonist in Manchester Camerata for many years, finally leaving in June 2017 to pursue more chamber music and solo playing, alongside his ongoing work promoting the bassoon. During his 43 years with Camerata he performed in concerts throughout the UK (including the BBC Proms) and on overseas tours including France, Germany, Portugal, Norway, the Azores Islands, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia and Japan.

Laurence’s solo CDs for the Hyperion label include a disc of concertos with conductor Douglas Boyd which received a five-star rating in the BBC Music Magazine, with the Mozart Concerto being a top selection in Building a Library on the BBC Radio 3 Record Review programme. Other Hyperion recordings include “The Playful Pachyderm” with the New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp, the Richard Strauss Duet-Concertino along with chamber music by Beethoven and Glinka (which reached No.4 in the U.K. Specialist Classical Charts in August 2018), and "Voyage of a Sea-god”, released in July 2021 and was immediately declared “album of the week” in The Times.

Laurence is bassoon tutor at the University of York, and has also been bassoon tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and at Nottingham and Leeds Universities. He has also been a regular bassoon and chamber music tutor at many summer schools and courses in the UK and overseas, including Aberystwyth, Malvern, Sherborne, Dartington, Alston Hall in Lancashire and Kammermusik in Oxford. He also runs ‘Wind Serenades’ courses which are now among the leading events for wind chamber music players in the UK.

• Website: https://laurenceperkins.com/