Jonathan Williams (born 1957) is a British

horn player This list of horn players and pedagogues includes notable players of French horn, German horn, natural horn, Vienna horn, tenor (alto) horn, and alphorn. B *Radek Baborák, former Principal horn Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Phil. Orch ...

, who lives in both

Knebworth Knebworth is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Hert ...

, Hertfordshire, and Fossa, near

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Jonathan Williams was born in Hertfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and studied from 1975 until 1979 at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

with Sydney Coulston. While still a student he joined the

BBC Northern Dance Orchestra The BBC Northern Dance Orchestra was a big band run by the BBC and formed in 1956 as the successor to the BBC's Northern Variety Orchestra, which had been formed on 1 April 1951. Known to listeners as the NDO, it broadcast on the radio daily, usual ...

, then after leaving Manchester he joined Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet as principal horn. In 1981 he joined I Solisti Veneti. In 1982 he joined 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 ...

as principal horn, and in 1984 was invited by Nicholas Busch to join the London Philharmonic Orchestra as co-principal horn. He was a founder of The Gaudier Ensemble and has recorded most of the central

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

repertoire which includes the horn. He was co-principal horn of the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

between 1992 and 1997. In 1986 Williams recorded

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's four horn concertos accompanied by Alexander Schneider and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. In 2000, he co-founded the Orchestra Citta Aperta with Carlo Crivelli to record the soundtrack for Ginostra directed by Manuel Pradal and until 2009 Orchestra Citta Aperta continued to record many soundtracks for Manuel Pradal, Mazzacurati, Ficarra e Piccone until the Abruzzo region suffered several devastating earthquakes. The home of the Orchestra Citta Aperta "Teatro La Fragolina" in Fossa and the village has remained closed since then. From 2009 until 2015 Williams was artistic leader of the Min Ensemble of Norway, and in 2011 left the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and played frequently with the Australian Chamber Orchestra until 2015. Orchestra Citta Aperta now records in the Conservatorio in L'Aquila or in Rome. " Lost Vision " is a project planned for 2019 linking London with L'Aquila and Spain using LOLA distance technology with music by Carlo Crivelli. Since 2015 he has freelanced in London, recently with English National Opera, and has worked on soundtracks both in London and in Italy with Carlo Crivelli and Battista Lena. He is the only conductor of the Hatfield Chamber Orchestra's annual concert at St Ethelreda's in Old Hatfield.

Recordings

*''Wolfgang A. Mozart - The Four Horn Concerti'', ASV Digital COE805 (1986) Chamber Orchestra of Europe - Beethoven Symphonies - Harnoncourt

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jonathan 1957 births British classical horn players Living people People from Knebworth People from the Province of L'Aquila