Biographies

The Purcell School is fifty years old and, in that time, many of its old pupils have gone on to enjoy very distinguished musical careers.  Here are just a few of them.

Oliver Knussen CBE joined the School shortly after it was founded.  Now sixty years old, he has become one of Britain’s most respected composers and conductors of contemporary music.  He won the 2012 Critics’ Circle Outstanding Musician Award.  In a statement, the Critics’ Circle said ‘Oliver Knussen is not just a superb composer, but also an inspiring champion of the music of our time. Uncompromising, indefatigable, self-effacing and utterly generous, he has been a beacon and mentor for an entire generation of composers.’

Oboist Nicholas Daniel used to travel daily by train from Winchester to Harrow to get to The Purcell School.  His distinguished career began when, at the age of 18, he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and went on to win further competitions in Europe.  At his debut at the BBC Proms in 1992 the Sunday Times described him as one of the greatest exponents of the oboe in the world. In 2012, he was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music.  The prize, established in 2005, is awarded to an outstanding individual or group of musicians who have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation.

Described as “The Queen of Harps”, Catrin Finch has delighted audiences with her performances in the UK and worldwide. Inspired to learn the harp at the age of five, her rise to prominence started almost immediately, achieving the highest mark in the UK for her Grade VIII exam at the age of nine.  She studied in Wales for eight years before joining The Purcell School.  Catrin graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2002 and received the Queen’s Award for the most outstanding student of her year.  From 2000-2004 she was the Royal Harpist to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.  In May 2004 she was nominated for a Classical Brit Award and has also received an “Echo Klassik” in Germany.

Lara Melda left The Purcell School this summer to pursue her education at the Royal College of Music.  Winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 2010, she had gone on to enjoy the beginning of a busy performing career.  Her concerto performances last season included the Northern Sinfonia, Sinfonia of Leeds, Watford Philharmonic, and the Maidstone, Aylesbury, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Worthing Symphony Orchestras.  London concerto engagements have included Mozart with the Aurora Orchestra and English Chamber Orchestra, and the Grieg Concerto with English Sinfonia.  She performs regularly in Turkey and made her debut at the International Music Festival in Istanbul in June 2011, playing the Grieg Concerto with the Borusan Philharmonic.   In 2012 she received the prestigious 'Promising Young Artist' award from Kadir Has University.