Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM (26 December 1925 – 26 June 2007) was a British

clarinettist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baer ...

Biography

Early life

Thea King was born in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of his family engineering business, and Dorothea (née Hass).''Daily Telegraph'' Obituary
accessed 30 June 2007 She was educated at Bedford High School and won a scholarship to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

where she studied the

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 ...

with Arthur Alexander and the

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

with Frederick Thurston. In January 1953 she married Frederick Thurston but he died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in December of the same year. She never remarried.

Career

She worked as soloist, chamber musician and as a teacher but was probably associated most closely with the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...

as principal clarinet from 1964 to 1999. She also worked with the

London Mozart Players London Mozart Players (LMP) are a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. LMP are the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom. Since 1989, the orchestra has been Resident Orchestra at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. History Begin ...

, succeeding Gervase de Peyer as principal clarinettist, the Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra, the Melos Ensemble and the Allegri String Quartet. She was a founder member in 1953 of the Portia Wind Ensemble, an all female group. Thea King made a special study of lesser known works of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially those of Crusell. She commissioned Elizabeth Maconchy's ''Fantasia'' and Howard Blake's ''Clarinet Concerto''. Compositions dedicated to her by British composers include Benjamin Frankel's ''Clarinet Quintet'' (which she recorded in 1991, helping revive interest in the then neglected composer)Kennaway, E.D.
"Benjamin Frankel: A Forgotten Legacy"
in ''Musical Times'', February 1992, pp. 69–70 and

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

's ''Mini Concerto''. From 1961 to 1987, she was Professor of Clarinet at the Royal College of Music and she was a 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 ...

from 1988 until her death. She was a Fellow of both institutions. Thea King was made an OBE in 1985 and was appointed a DBE in 2001.

References

External links

Hyperion Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Thea 1925 births 2007 deaths Academics of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the Royal College of Music English classical clarinetists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Musicians awarded knighthoods People from Hitchin Musicians from London Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music People educated at Bedford High School, Bedfordshire Musicians from Hertfordshire 20th-century British classical musicians 20th-century English musicians