Michael Whight (clarinet)

Michael has appeared as soloist with the Philharmonia conducted by Leonard Slatkin in the UK and abroad, and recorded Stravinsky’s Ebony Concertowith Robert Craft. Two performances of John Adams’ concerto Gnarly Buttons in San Francisco conducted by Kent Nagano supervised by the composer met with rave reviews. With Northern Sinfonia he played the Nielsen Concerto at the Brinkburn Festival, conducted by Paul McCreech and gave two performances of Weber’s second concerto. As part of the Late Mix series he performed Henze’s Le Miracle de la Rose. Michael has recorded the Mozart Concerto as soloist/director with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and he has appeared at the Bath Festival with London Sinfonietta in a performance of Gnarly Buttons.

In the field of chamber music Michael has worked with the Lindsay’s, the Medici String Quartet, the Schidlof String Quartet, the Razoumovsky Ensemble, the Lyric String Quartet, Gidon Kremer and friends, Robert Cohen and Barry Douglas as well as taking part in recordings of the complete wind chamber music of Richard Strauss with London Winds for Hyperion and with the Wind Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for Teldec. Future engagements this year include the Bordeaux Festival with the Razoumovsky Ensemble and the Cernier Festival. Michael has recorded for the BBC including works by Steve Reich, Martin Butler, Alban Berg, John Ireland and Arnold Bax.

He was the first British winner of the International Clarinet Congress Competition and also won the Royal Overseas League Competition (woodwind and brass). On the other side of the fence, he regularly helps to judge the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year Award. Michael was invited to play in the 2003 World Orchestra for Peace, an orchestra made from leading musicians from the world’s major orchestras in St Petersburg and Moscow. He has been Principal Clarinettist with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and is a professor of Clarinet at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.