Richard Bissill is a

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

player, composer and arranger, and Professor at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

in London. Born in Leicestershire, he was a member of the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra and he then studied horn and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

before joining 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 ...

in 1981. In 1984 he was appointed Principal Horn of the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

. Since 1990 he has been Solo Horn with London Brass, with whom he has played many new pieces commissioned by the group, including several of his own compositions and arrangements. The ensemble's work has also included projects with popular music and jazz artists and Bissill has been featured in an improvisatory role many times. Bissill is known for his involvement in jazz performance. Whilst still a teenager, he played with the BBC Radio Leicester Big Band and later the

National Youth Jazz Orchestra The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO), established as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra in 1965, is a British jazz orchestra. History The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) was founded in 1965 by Bill Ashton. Based in the Royal Arsenal ...

with which he made several recordings. His improvisatory abilities and skill in jazz styles are well known throughout the world and he is often selected for sessions or by visiting bands from abroad requiring a horn player who can swing and/or improvise. In this capacity he has worked with

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Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Music of Latin America, Lati ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

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and many others. Bissill has also improvised in a non-jazz context, recorded with the horn players Pip Eastop and Jonathan Williams. As a teacher and player he understands the capabilities of the horn, particularly its low register, and this shows itself in his numerous works for horn ensemble, including ''Three Portraits'' for horn octet and ''Corpendium 1'' for six horns. He has also achieved success as a composer of orchestral music, his ''Christmas Carnival'' being frequently performed and having been recorded by the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

. His ''Sinfonia Concertante'' for clarinet, trumpet, horn and orchestra was commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra to celebrate its centenary in 2004. Bissill's ''Lone Call and Charge'', for solo horn is frequently performed, for example where competition or audition rules stipulate performance of a recently composed work. His ''Rhapsody'' for piano and orchestra was premiered by

Philip Fowke Philip Fowke (born 28 June 1950) is an English pianist. Biography Philip Francis Fowke studied at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) with Gordon Green, a pupil of Egon Petri. In 1974 he made his London debut with a recital at the Wigmore Hall (Be ...

and the

at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

.Classics online
/ref> Bissill has been a professor of horn at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama since 1983 and many of his students from this period have progressed to successful horn-playing careers throughout the world. He wrote the ''Good Brass Guide'' for horn and this has become a successful and popular tutor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissill, Richard English classical horn players Living people Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music London Symphony Orchestra players Year of birth missing (living people) Players of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Musicians from Leicestershire