Antony Pay facts for kids

Antony Pay (born on February 21, 1945, in London) is a famous classical clarinet player. He has played the clarinet for many years, performing with top orchestras and teaching music to students around the world. He is known for his beautiful playing and for bringing old music to life on special historical instruments.

Early Life and Education

Antony Pay showed his musical talent from a young age. When he was only 16, he played the famous Mozart clarinet concerto with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. After this, he studied music at the Royal Academy of Music. He also went to Cambridge University and studied Mathematics, finishing his degree in 1966.

Orchestras and Music Groups

Antony Pay has held important positions as a principal clarinetist in several well-known orchestras. He played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 to 1978. He was also a founding member of the London Sinfonietta, playing with them from 1968 to 1983. From 1976 to 1986, he was the principal clarinetist for the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

He has also been part of many smaller music groups, called chamber ensembles. Some of these include the Nash Ensemble, the Tuckwell Wind Quintet, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble, and Hausmusik.

Working with Composers

During his time with the London Sinfonietta, Antony Pay worked closely with many important modern composers. These included Boulez, Stockhausen, Birtwistle, Henze, Maxwell Davies, Goehr, and Berio.

He recorded Berio's Concertino with the composer himself conducting. He also performed the very first show of Henze's mini-concerto, Miracle of the Rose. This piece was written especially for Antony Pay to lead the music while playing the clarinet.

Teaching Music

Antony Pay has shared his musical knowledge by teaching at several famous music schools. He was a Professor of Clarinet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1982 to 1990. He also taught at the Royal Academy of Music, the Accademia Lorenzo Perosi in Biella, and at Musikene – Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco in San Sebastián, Spain, from 2005 to 2018.

Solo Playing and Conducting

More recently, Antony Pay has focused on playing the clarinet by himself (solo) and leading orchestras (conducting). He has made recordings of famous clarinet concertos, including those by Spohr and Mozart for Decca. He also recorded concertos by Weber and Crusell for Virgin Classics.

As a conductor, he has led the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. He has also conducted the London Sinfonietta across Europe. He has been a guest conductor for orchestras in Scandinavia, Italy, and the United States.

Playing on Period Instruments

Antony Pay is also known for playing music on "period instruments." These are special instruments that have been rebuilt to be like the ones used when the music was first written. This helps the music sound more like it would have centuries ago.

He has recorded the Mozart, Weber, and Crusell Concertos using these historical instruments. He often performs as a soloist with The Academy of Ancient Music and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. His recording of the Mozart concerto with The AAM and Christopher Hogwood is available on Decca.

Writing and Future Projects

Antony Pay has also written articles for the journal Early Music and for The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet. He is currently working on a book. This book is mostly about how using metaphors (like comparing one thing to another) can help people learn to play the clarinet better.