Biography

One of the world’s best-known bassists, Thomas Martin studied in America under Harold Roberts, Oscar Zimmerman, and Roger Scott. He has held front desk positions with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras and Principal positions with l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, The Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the English Chamber Orchestra, The CBSO, and the London Symphony Orchestra for many years.

In recent years, he has been pursuing an ever-increasing interest in solo playing, appearing in recitals and concertos with orchestras around the globe. He has made a number of television and broadcast appearances presenting a wide variety of repertoire ranging from the baroque to the twentieth-century and has played and recorded most of the chamber music for his instrument.

He has completed a series of recordings of the music of Giovanni Bottesini, the great nineteenth-century virtuoso, which have met with great critical acclaim. His recordings in the Bottesini series with Anthony Halstead were awarded Gramophone Magazine record of the year, and his recording with The English Chamber Orchestra was chosen as the Sunday Times record of the year. In 2008 the celebrated series was re-released on Naxos.

Tom has an impressive class at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he was recently honoured with the fellowship of the school. He was for many years senior professor of double bass at London’s Guildhall School of Music and professor at the Royal College of Music in London. He is in constant demand to give masterclasses internationally and his students can be found all over the world. He is responsible for a large number of editions of music for double bass, notably for the International Music Company, New York.

Tom is often asked to serve on international competition juries, with recent appearances taking place in Moscow, Geneva, Cremona, Bucharest, Munich, Ludwigslust, St Petersburg, and Markneukirchen.

As a conductor, Tom studied with Sian Edwards in London and with Stephen Darlington in Oxford. He recently completed the first recording of Bottesini’s masterly Messa da Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, chorus, and soloists, which was released on Naxos.

Tom studied violin making with Andrew Dipper, and made 166 double basses before going into business with his son to form Thomas and George Martin Violin Makers in 2008.

Double Bass

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