Professor James Watson FRAM (4 September 1951 – 6 February 2011) held principal trumpet posts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

and

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 ...

. His international chamber music work included the

Nash Ensemble The Nash Ensemble of London is an English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman and Rodney Slatford in 1964, while they were students at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around ...

and leading the world-famous

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter 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 toured and recorded exte ...

. He was particularly active in film and television having recorded with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and Peter Gabriel. Watson's conducting positions included artistic director of the

Black Dyke Mills Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...

, 1992–2000. James Watson was artistic director of the

National Youth Brass Band of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the sta ...

for six years and was vice-president of the

National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain The National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain (NYWO) consists of around 75 young musicians aged 14 to 21 from England, Scotland and Wales. Members are required to hold a minimum instrument Grade 8 at distinction level and are selected by aud ...

. He was very active as a teacher and had been head of brass at the Royal Academy of Music since 2001. Watson's death was announced on 6 February 2011.

References

External links

James Watson at the Royal Academy of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, James British music educators English trumpeters Male trumpeters English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Academics of the Royal Academy of Music 1951 births 2011 deaths