The Forge

Althea Talbot-Howard is based in London, England, where she works as a freelance soloist. She studied at Girton College, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada.  She has played concertos at venues including London’s Purcell Room, the Marble Hill Park Proms and St. John’s Smith Square; has given recitals for numerous music clubs, festivals, universities and concert promoters throughout the UK, the Irish Republic, Australia and the USA; and has broadcast live on Radio 3, Classic FM, RTE FM3 and ABC FM. Her recent CD – From Leipzig to London – was warmly reviewed in several publications including Gramophone magazine, which described her as "a superb oboist". She has also had the privilege, on several occasions, of performing live for HM the Queen.

In 2007, Althea won Third Prize at the Paris-Ville d’Avray International Oboe Competition, and remains the competition’s only British prize-winner to date. Past orchestral work includes Guest Principal engagements with the RPO and RPCO, the BBCSO, the Royal Opera House Orchestra and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, in addition to several seasons as Principal Oboe/Cor Anglais in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake and Nutcracker! at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.
Further career information can be found on her website at
www.altheatalbot-howard.com, where her CD is also available for
purchase. Free video clips are also available there or on YouTube.

Dominic Saunders read music initially at York University, winning the Wilfrid Mellers Prize and graduating with first-class honours. He then attended the Royal Academy of Music in London, with the Lloyds Bank Scholarship, where he won numerous prizes. Since then he has gained increasing recognition for his work as soloist, accompanist and ensemble player in a wide range of styles, playing at the Proms and all the main London venues, all over the UK and Europe, and in the USAand the Caribbean. His first appearance at the Carnegie Hall in New York was in 2002.

Dominic was a founder member of Jane’s Minstrels, the instrumental ensemble set up by Jane Manning. He is also the pianist with Icebreaker and Lontano and has played with other ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta and Endymion. Contemporary music is a special priority and he has premiered the works of numerous composers. Recent commercial recordings have included a disc of chamber music by the Scottish composer Ed McGuire which was selected as a CD of the month in Gramophone magazine. Concerts in the last year have included appearances at the London’s South Bank and at the Lincoln Centre in New York. He enjoys teaching, and has also written on music for the Guardian newspaper.