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Elspeth Dutch, horn player
I was one of the lucky people at Prom 9 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The program included a Mozart violin concerto and Mahler Symphony #5, one of the greatest works ever written, by the Philharmonia Orchestra. Mahler 5 also includes my very favorite Adagietto, so I was counting days to be there.
The greatest surprise of the concert was horn player Elspeth Dutch, a young woman that plays principal horn in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (apparently the Philharmonia principal was ill, thanks for the email Alice Walton). She was fantastic and got the well deserved standing ovation at the end. Congratulations for a fantastic job and for making Mahler an even greater piece to hear! Her sound was just beautiful, imposing at times and subtle and gentle when needed. Loved it!
Here's her bio provided by leedsconductors.com:
Elspeth was born in 1980 and at the age of 9 began learning the horn with Simon de Souza. When she was 14 she was awarded a scholarship with the Berkshire Young Musicians Trust and at 17 made her London concerto debut playing Mozart's 3rd horn concerto in St. John's, Smith Square. After leaving school she took up a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied with Richard Bissill, Hugh Seenan and Jeff Bryant.
During her time at the Guildhall she became a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra with whom she toured Europe conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy. In her final year at the Guildhall she won the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers Brass Prize and upon graduating with a first class honours degree was awarded the Phillip Jones Brass Award. Whilst still a student, Elspeth worked with the London Symphony Orchestra and was on trial for principal horn with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In October 2002 she was appointed first horn with the CBSO and since then has performed with the orchestra in venues throughout the UK, Europe and Japan.
Recently, Elspeth has increasingly found herself in demand as a soloist and chamber musician, performing with the CBSO, the Orchestra of the Swan, the Adderbury Ensemble, and the Sinfonia of Birmingham amongst others. In addition to her performing commitments, Elspeth has been a horn professor at Birmingham Conservatoire since September 2003.
I just want to remind everyone that the Proms can be listened to on streaming audio but only up to a week after the concert. Visit www.bbc.co.uk/proms!