Colin Lawson

Who is Colin Lawson?

Colin James Lawson MA, MA, PhD, DMus, FRCM, FRNCM, FLCM is an English clarinettist, academic and broadcaster. He was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea and educated at Bradford Grammar School. A pupil of Thea King, Lawson read music at Keble College, Oxford. Postgraduate studies in music at the University of Birmingham saw Lawson awarded the MA in 1972 for his study into the clarinet in eighteenth-century repertoire. His subsequent doctoral research into the chalumeau in eighteenth-century music remains the most extensive study of the instrument and its repertoire.

Following academic positions at the universities of Aberdeen and Sheffield, Lawson was appointed to the Chair of Performance Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London in 1998. He was Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of the London College of Music & Media at Thames Valley University from 2001-2005. In July 2005 he became Director of the Royal College of Music, London, where he holds a Personal Chair in Historical Performance.

Lawson is internationally-recognised as a performer of chalumeaux and historical clarinets, having held principal positions with leading British period orchestras, notably The Hanover Band, The English Concert and the London Classical Players, with whom he recorded extensively and toured world-wide. Described as 'a brilliant, absolutely world-class player' and ‘the doyen of period clarinettists’, he has appeared as soloist in many international venues, including London's major concert halls and New York's Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. His extensive discography comprises concertos by Fasch, Hook, Mahon, Mozart, Spohr, Telemann, Vivaldi and Weber, as well as a considerable variety of chamber and orchestral music. Among recent recordings are two discs of sonatas by Xavier Lefèvre and a highly-acclaimed CD of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet and other fragments.