The doyenne of British clarinetists, Thea King, died on June 26 in London at age 81. No cause of death was reported.
Topic: MILESTONESJun-Dec07
King was a noted champion of obscure clarinet works of the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly those of Bernhard Crusell, Franz Krommer, Louis Spohr, Carl Stamitz and Carl Maria von Weber. An accomplished pianist, she won a piano scholarship to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music, where she was a pupil of Arthur Alexander and clarinetist Frederick Thurston. "In those days it helped if you played two instruments, however poorly," The Daily Telegraph quoted her once saying. At the piano King often accompanied her clarinetist peers, including Gervase de Peyer and Colin Davis.
...MORE PLAYBILLarts... | ...GOOGLE LINKS... | Thea King on CDs