Education
Whitfield was educated at Chetham"s School of Music and Keble College, Oxford.
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John Whitfield
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Contemporaneously he was principal bassoon of National Youth Orchestra (Great Britain) and European Community (now Union) Youth Orchestra, EUYO. He was awarded Associate of the Royal College of Music with honours at just 17 and an Master of Arts in music from Oxford University. Whitfield founded Endymion, which he has conducted at venues around the world. The ensemble is noted for its performances of modern classical music, particularly by British composers.
As a conductor he has toured for Arts Council Contemporary Music Network and performed at state occasions for Queen Elizabeth II, given numerous broadcasts and recordings for British Broadcasting Corporation radio 3, British Broadcasting Corporation 2 television, and Independent Television, and made recordings for Electric and Music Industries of Britten and Stravinsky.
From 1991 to 2006 he worked very closely as both assistant and pupil of Sir Charles Mackerras. He has conducted first performances and commissioned works from among others Harrison Birtwistle, Dominic Muldowney, Michael Nyman, Nigel Osborne, Giles Swayne, Judith Weir, and Mark Anthony Turnage.
Whitfield played solo ocarina on a recording of works by Frank Denyer, Continuum charge-coupled device 1026 (1991) and solo recorder under Richard Hickox in Benjamin Britten Noye"s Fludde on Virgin Classics. Before leaving Oxford he was invited in 1978 by Lillian Hochhauser to audition for Rudolph Barshai who immediately offered him the post of first bassoon with the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
He has also edited performing editions of operas for the Royal Opera House and the English National Opera, and four Franz Lehár operettas for publication by Weinberger.
His arrangement for wind quintet of Mozart"s Serenade in Bb, K361 was published by Spartan Press in late 2014.
Achievements
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Born
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Nationality
United Kingdom