WREXHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Katherine Lacy – Clarinet

Born in 1980, Katherine Lacy was brought up in Wrexham and attended Acton Infants and Junior Schools and St. David’s Comprehensive School. She started playing the clarinet at the age of nine and five years later began studying with James Muirhead of the Halle Orchestra.

At sixteen Katherine went to Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where she studied with Barry Gregson, former Principal Clarinet with the Halle. In her final year at Chetham’s she won the Dennis Midwood Prize for Woodwind.

Katherine then studied for five years at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating in 2003 with a first class BMus Hons degree and in 2004 with a Post-graduate DipRAM. She studied with Angela Malsbury, Nick Rodwell, Tim Lines, Mark van de Wiel and Richard Addison. Whilst at the Academy, Katherine was selected to play Mozart’s clarinet concerto with the RAM Sinfonia in 2004 and Stravinsky’s “Ebony Concerto” with the RAM wind and brass ensemble in 2002. She also performed the world premiere of “Veni Creator Spiritus”, a duet for flute and bass clarinet by Maxwell-Davies, with flautist Sebastian Bell. In 2003 Katherine gave a performance at the Wigmore Hall as part of the final of the RAM’s Wigmore Award. She also won the Geoffrey Hawkes Clarinet Prize in her first year at the Academy.

In July 2001 Katherine gave her concerto debut with the Wrexham Symphony Orchestra, playing Mozart’s clarinet concerto. Since then she has performed as soloist with the Opus One Chamber Orchestra in Wrexham, the Maerkischer Kreis Youth Orchestra in Germany, The Lydian Orchestra in Kent and the National Chamber Orchestra of Wales, as part of her prize for winning the Russell Shepard Memorial Trust Competition in Cardiff 2003.

Whilst still at the RAM, Katherine performed with some of Britain’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Halle, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Sinfonietta and London Chamber Orchestra.

In January 2005 Katherine was appointed as Principal Bass Clarinet with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

May 2005

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