John Bradbury

John studied Natural Sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge. He was awarded a Travel Scholarship to study with Larry Combs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, then went on to the Royal Academy of Music where he won the Hawkes Clarinet Prize and the Principal’s Prize.

John held the sub-principal chairs in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the London Symphony Orchestra, and in 1997 was invited to become Principal Clarinet with the BBC Philharmonic, performing throughout the North of England, at the BBC Proms and many international tours, not to mention enjoying unrivalled exposure on radio, TV, CD and online. He has played Guest Principal with all the major UK orchestras as well as with John Wilson’s hand-picked orchestra at the Proms.

John has given many solo performances with the BBC Philharmonic, with highlights including the Mozart, Nielsen and Stanford Concertos. His recordings include the Busoni Concertino and the Arnold “Scherzetto” for Chandos, which was Editor’s Choice in “The Gramophone”. His celebrated Naxos disc “The English Clarinet” remains a best-seller ten years after its release.

John was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music in 2018.