Thomas Knollys
Thomas Knollys is a freelance clarinettist and bass clarinettist based between London and Manchester. He has recently earned an MMus in Performance with Distinction from the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied most recently under Katherine Lacy and Ausiàs Garrigós Morant and was supported by a scholarship from the Richard Newitt Fund. Prior to that, he studied music at the University of Birmingham where he was taught by Oliver Janes.
Thomas has wide experience performing with numerous orchestras and ensembles. During his time at RNCM, he performed with the Orchestra of Opera North and Manchester Camerata. He was principal clarinet in both RNCM Symphony Orchestra for their 50th Birthday Celebration, playing works by Thomas Adès, Leonard Bernstein, Florence Price and Ottorino Respighi (broadcast on BBC Radio 3) as well as RNCM Opera Orchestra, performing works by Jonathan Dove, Richard Strauss and Gian Carlo Menotti. Thomas is equally at home playing bass clarinet – a particularly memorable concert was Shostakovich 8th Symphony with RNCM Symphony Orchestra at Bridgewater Hall.
A keen chamber musician, Thomas has performed a range of repertoire including Mozart’s Kegelstadt Trio and Serenade No.13 ‘Gran Partita’, and DvoÅ™ák’s Serenade for Winds. As well as the Azalea Quintet, he is a member of the Azure Quartet, an ensemble originally brought together to perform Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time; the quartet has performed in concert venues and schools in Manchester and London.
A recent solo recital for a festival in southwest London included well known works by Bela Kovacs, Debussy, Poulenc and Brahms, but Thomas is particularly keen to extend the repertoire for both clarinet and bass clarinet, and has premiered numerous new solo, chamber and orchestral works. He is dedicated to education, outreach and new music through both individual instrumental tuition and ensemble playing.