Byron Fulcher (born 1970) is a British musician who is the principal trombone with the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

and the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...

. In addition, he is professor of trombone at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

Early life and education

Byron was born and raised in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, started playing trombone at the age of nine and studied with

Denis Wick Denis Wick (born 1931) is an influential British orchestral trombonist. He is also an internationally respected brass teacher and designer of brass mutes and mouthpieces. On retirement in 1989 he was awarded the International Trombone Associati ...

. From 1988 and 1992, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under

Eric Crees Eric Crees (born 1952) was appointed Principal Trombone of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London) in 2000. Before that he spent twenty-seven years at the London Symphony Orchestra, twenty as Co-Principal Trombone. He is also a noted brass c ...

Career

In 1989, Fulcher performed the British premiere of Ranki's ''Tales of Father Goose'' and has since performed the Gordon Jacob and Launy Grondahl trombone concerti in London and the Ferdinand David ''Concertino'' in Peru with the Lima Symphony Orchestra. In 2006, he performed the Derek Bourgeois Trombone Concerto with the RAF Central Band. In 1991 Fulcher was a finalist the Shell LSO Scholarship competition, where he played a concerto in the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. Fulcher has also performed at the International Trombone Festival in Helsinki, Finland (2003) and Birmingham, UK (2006). Fulcher held the position of co-principal trombone of the

Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia is a Spanish orchestra, created in 1992 and based in A Coruña. Its conductor is Dima Slobodeniouk. 2012-13 staff * Violins I: Massimo Spadano (CM), Ludwig Dürichen (CMA), Vladimir Prjevalski (CMA), Ruslan Asanov, ...

, Spain before returning to London to freelance in 1993. He then worked with a wide variety of orchestras and ensembles including the

Chamber Orchestra of Europe The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE), established in 1981, is an orchestra based in London. The orchestra comprises about 60 members from across Europe. The players pursue parallel careers as international soloists, members of chamber groups and ...

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

and BBC Symphony Orchestra. Byron became Principal Trombone of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2000 and moved to the

in September 2001. In 2009 he became Principal Trombone of the

. Fulcher was featured as soloist in the 2004 Benjamin Zander / Philharmonia recording of Mahler's Third Symphony (although the CD sleeve calls him "Brian" Fulcher). Fulcher has given masterclasses at the

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

and Chetham's School of Music. He also contributed to the musical score of ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'', ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'', and '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit''. He also now teaches at the

and

Birmingham Conservatoire The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides professional education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly res ...

and is a member of the

London Brass The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter Philip Jones (musician), Philip Jones, was one of the first modern classical brass ensembles to be formed. The group played either as a quintet or as a ten-piece, for larger halls. It ...

References

External links

Philharmonia page

RCM page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulcher, Byron 1970 births 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century classical trombonists 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century classical trombonists Academics of the Royal College of Music English classical trombonists Living people Male trombonists