Opera North Horn Section

Principal Horn - Bob Ashworth

Born in Salford in 1955, Bob Ashworth started singing lessons at the age of eight. Trained privately as a chorister he was eventually encouraged to play the horn at the age of twelve, and gained a place in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He decided to stay in Manchester to study with Sydney Coulston at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he spent four successful years, gaining a 1st class diploma and the award of Laureate, and met his future wife, Debbie.

Since 1978 he has enjoyed playing Principal Horn with the Orchestra of Opera North, in the theatre, the concert hall and the recording studio. He has made several appearances as soloist and is a regular member of the chamber group The Music Serenade, whose acclaimed recording (BBC Radio 3 Record Review) of wind octets by Mozart, Beethoven and Hummel is available on CD. He is an active member of both the British Horn Society and the International Horn Society, performing at many of the former's local seminars and writing for their respective journals, The Horn Call (IHS) and The Horn Player (BHS). With his Opera North colleagues, he founded the Opera North Horn Club - providing a forum for professional, amateur and student horn players.

He teaches the horn at Leeds University and coaches at Leeds College of Music. In addition to his Opera North commitments has played with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. On the period instrument front (hand horn and baroque horn), he has played first horn for the Academy of Ancient Music, the Hanover Band, The Sixteen and more recently, The English Concert touring Germany and Austria.

Second Horn - John Pratt

John Pratt was born in Newcastle in 1978 and studied the horn with Martin Shillito. He completed four years of study with Bob Ashworth at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has taken part in masterclasses with Ifor James (modern horn) at the Birmingham Conservatoire and Anthony Halstead (hand horn) at the RNCM. On graduating from the RNCM he has had a very successful freelance career which has included the Northern Sinfonia, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Opera North where he is now firmly established as second horn.

Third Horn (co-principal) - Andrew Littlemore

Andrew began the horn at the age of 8 when he was a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral and studied with Simon de Souza. When he was 12 he became principal horn of National Youth Sinfonia for two years. He was the in NYO for three years, his last year as Principal Horn and went on to study with Jeff Bryant at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Since 2003 as well as being at school at Bryanston Andrew studied at the Royal Academy of Music’s junior department. In 2002, 03 and 04 Andrew broadened his experience of chamber music on ‘Chamber Music International’ at The Purcell School. Andrew has given several solo recitals in the South of England, and won the Senior Brass Prize Competition at RAMJD. He has given a recital at St. Martin in the Fields and St John Smith Square and performed Mozart’s 1st horn concerto in Salisbury Cathedral, Haydn’s 2nd Horn Concerto in Salisbury and Strauss’s 1st Horn Concerto in Dorset. Andrew also performed in a live broadcast in Cadogan Hall with the NYO sifonietta as principal horn. In his final year at RAMJD he won the concerto competition and performe Gliere’s horn concerto with the symphony orchestra. Andrew was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra worked with the London Symphony Orchestra but in Summer 2008 was appointed 3rd horn (co-principal) with the Orchestra of Opera North. In between the Opera North schedule he has been doing regular work with both the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras.

Fourth Horn - Position vacant