Richard Blayden
Violin
Richard was fortunate to be born into a family where music was much loved and at the forefront of life - whether heard live in concert, on the radio or being practised or performed by himself or his brother.
He first learned with Pearl Mace (MBE) whose infectious enthusiasm and encouragement helped instil a love for the violin and playing chamber music. This was later developed by studies with inspirational musicians such as Levon Chilingirian and particularly Lydia Mordkovitch, with whom Richard studied with scholarships at the Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Academy of Music and privately thanks to the Martin Trust.
Richard has a busy schedule both in chamber music, orchestrally and in the recording studio. He was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra for 18 years, as well as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the London Mozart Players.
Currently Richard is Sub-Leader of the English National Opera Orchestra - the extraordinary and varied repertoire being performed by this unique, inclusive and supremely talented company brings particular joy.
Richard also has a love of period performance, and has played often with Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s English Baroque Soloists and Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique as well as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment