William Bennett (flautist)

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William Bennett , OBE (born February 7, 1936 in London ) is a British classical flautist .

Youth and education

William Bennett grew up in an artistic family and began playing the flute at the age of twelve. At the Guildhall School of Music he (like his colleague James Galway, who was three years his junior later ), took lessons from Geoffrey Gilbert . In 1958 he won a scholarship from the French government that enabled him to work in Paris a . a. to study with Jean-Pierre Rampal . At the end of his studies, Bennett won a prize at the Geneva International Music Competition . In the 1960s he took lessons from Marcel Moyse for the first time ; in the 1970s he also attended masterclasses with this.

Career

After employment with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra and the Sadlers Wells Orchestra , Bennett became principal flutist with the London Symphony Orchestra . Later, in addition to his work as a soloist, he also worked as a member of renowned orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields . In his solo career, Bennett has devoted himself to playing ensembles, among other things. a. as a regular guest musician in the Melos Ensemble . He has made over 300 recordings from the solo flute repertoire, including the concertos by Vivaldi and Mozart , the B minor suite by JS Bach and Mozart's concerto for flute, harp and orchestra .

Flute making

Together with the British flute maker Albert Cooper and a few other flautists, Bennett developed an improved scale length , the Bennett-Cooper scale. He also invented a flute with a pitch range a minor third lower than normal ( i.e. down to the minor a), the so-called flauto di bassetto . With this flute he played a. a. the D major concerto by Mozart. Bennett influenced the flute manufacturer Altus with his work . He himself currently plays an altus flute from the "Limited" series with an open G sharp key.

Teaching assignments

Bennett taught at the Freiburg University of Music for several years from 1983 and (until today) at the Royal Academy of Music .

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c http://www.answers.com/topic/william-bennett-classical-musician
  2. a b c Profile ( Memento from December 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ William Bennett ( Memento of November 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ William Bennett ( Memento August 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )