Stuart Essenhigh is Sub-Principal Trumpet with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Following his studies he freelanced with various orchestras in Spain, before taking the position of Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. After nine years in Hong Kong, Stuart returned to undertake trial positions with, amongst others, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He won the Harry Mortimer Memorial Brass Prize at GSMD and has appeared as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Symphony Orchestra. Stuart has recorded with many leading orchestras and soloists, including movie soundtracks and television commercials. He has toured extensively with many UK orchestras, in Europe, America and the Far East, and on top of his position with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra is also Principal Trumpet with the English Symphony Orchestra.

British/Sri Lankan horn player James’ interest in music started at an early age, taking up the tenor horn at 7 years old. At 10 he moved onto the French horn, soon joining the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department where he studied with Susan Dent before gaining a scholarship to the RCM where he studied with Simon Rayner, Nigel Black and John Ryan. For the past 10 years James has led a busy and varied freelance career, appearing as guest principal with all the major London orchestras. A passionate chamber musician, James has collaborated with ensembles Ensemble 360 and Orsino and recorded with Mark Simpson for Orchid Classics (Gran Partita/Geysir 2020) as well as regularly being invited to festivals such as Southwell, Aldeburgh and Highgate. James lives in South London with his wife, a bassoonist, their 3 children and cat, Cheryl. Outside of music James’ passions include cricket, coffee and wine.

Hornist and conductor, Radek Baborák, is one of the most distinctive musical personalities on the international classical music scene. Since his solo debut in 1989, he has collaborated with many world orchestras (Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Mito Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Tokyo) and top conductors (Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, James Levine, Neeme Järvi). His chamber music collaborations have included projects with Martha Argerich, András Schiff, Yefim Bronfmann, Daniel Barenboim, Emmanuel Pahud, Sergei Nakarjakov, Ricardo Galliano. After eight years as a principal hornist of Berlin Philharmonic and enriched with a lot of experience in chamber music and solo performances, in 2008 he started to pursue a career as a conductor. This follows the tradition of conducting instrumentalists who decided to realise their artistic ideas and dreams in their own conducting production. Baborak’s mentor and role model is mainly maestro Daniel Barenboim, to whom he assisted in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, performing solo under his direction, participating in the Boulez Ensemble chamber projects, and working as a professor at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. Radek appears as Guest Principal with the Oxford Philharmonic. 

Danny Scott has been Principal Trombone of the Oxford Philharmonic since 2013 and was Principal Trombone for the Royal Northern Sinfonia for 11 years. He studied at the Royal College of Music with John Iveson and Arthur Wilson, where he won many prizes including the Ziff prize for the most outstanding final recital performance of the year. Since graduating Danny has mainly worked as a freelancer with touring shows and many orchestras and ensembles including the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Continuum Contemporary Music Ensemble, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Orchestras, and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Solo work includes the premiere of the Rupert Bond Trombone Concerto, and the Frank Martin Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments with the Northern Sinfonia. He has appeared on many recordings, Radio 3, Classic FM, and national television.

Joe Atkins was appointed Principal Trumpet of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999. He made his professional debut with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at the age of 16 and, after studying at the Royal Academy of Music, joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1984. He is now a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, having been appointed sub-principal trumpet in 2010. He has performed as guest principal in most of the orchestras throughout Britain including the BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a former member of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, and has been a member of the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble over the past 25 years.