Stephen Stirling is a renowned horn soloist. Since studying at the Royal Northern College of Music with Ifor James and later with Julian Baker, he has worked mostly in the rather rarefied world of chamber music. He enjoys an enormously varied career travelling all over the world, particularly relishing playing in unusual and far-flung places. Stephen is the Principal Horn of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
He has broadcast concertos on BBCTV and Radio 3, and appeared with orchestras such as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Orchestra of St John’s, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Richard Hickox, Sir Neville Marriner, Heinz Holliger, Iván Fischer and Douglas Boyd. His recordings of the complete Mozart Horn Concertos with the City of London Sinfonia are frequently broadcast on Classic fM. He has also recorded the virtuosic Double Horn Concertos by Vivaldi. Gary Carpenter’s marvellous new Horn Concerto was written for him and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and given its world and broadcast premiere in April 2005. Other recent first performances have included solo works by Martin Butler and Stephen Dodgson.
Stephen has a world-wide reputation as a chamber musician being in constant demand at festivals in the UK and abroad. He is a member of Endymion Ensemble, The Fibonacci Sequence, Capricorn, Arpege and the New London Chamber Ensemble.
His many critically acclaimed CDs include the first recordings with Endymion, of York Bowen’s Horn Sonata and his beautiful Quintet for Horn and Strings, and Mozart’s entire output for wind ensemble with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. CDs of horn quintets by Stanford and Dunhill have just been released. His second recording of the Brahms Horn Trio, with the Florestan Trio, was nominated for a Gramophone award and in the USA, Fanfare described it as the equal of any recording whether modern or ‘Golden Age’. Spring 2007 saw the release by Deux-Elles of Horn – rare works of chamber music featuring the horn, with the Fibonacci Sequence.
Stephen is a professor at Trinity College of Music, London, on the faculty of the Yellowbarn Summer School in Vermont and a seasoned participant at the Dartington International Summer School.
More information at www.stephenstirling.com