Legendary Horn Player and Teacher Dies at 88

Word has been received that the legendary Australian horn player Barry Tuckwell died on January 16, 2020, at the age of 88.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Barry Tuckwell ironically shares the same birth date – March 5th – with Philip Farkas, a former Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Although the horn was not Tuckwell’s first instrument, he did begin playing the instrument at age 13. Tuckwell studied the instrument with Alan Mann, a well-known Australian horn player, and teacher at the Sydney Conservatory. Within two years, Tuckwell began his first professional job in an orchestra. Starting as Third Horn in the Melbourne Symphony, he began path through multiple orchestras such as the Sydney Symphony, the Hallé Orchestra, and the Scottish National Orchestra. In 1951, Tuckwell reached a high point in his career as he began his long, tenured career in the position of Principal Horn of the London Symphony Orchestra.

During his 13 years with the LSO, Tuckwell not only served under major conductors, but he also served in administrative roles with the orchestra and Chairman of the Board for the orchestra (the LSO operates as a player-maintained organization).

While his playing was a stellar feat, Tuckwell also contributed to the musical world in the form of being a full-time soloist for 30 years, being a conductor of both European, Australian, and North American orchestras, and writing pedagogical books and materials for the horn world. Awards and honors have poured into Tuckwell’s life, but none so important as becoming an Office of the British Empire (OBE) in 1965 and being made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1992.

Click here to learn more about Barry Tuckwell.