William Knight

William Knight studies the clarinet with Richard Hosford and Michael Collins and the Bass Clarinet with Michael Harris and Paul Richards at the Royal College of Music. He is an RCM Scholar supported by a John Nickson Award and was also the recipient of the Stephen Trier award for bass clarinet lessons. While at RCM William has performed under conductors including Bernard Haitink, Sir Roger Norrington, Vladimir Jurowski, John Wilson and Jac van Steen.

William is a former member of the National Children's Orchestras and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain with whom he performed at the BBC Proms and in venues such as the Barbican, The Royal Festival hall and The Sage, Gateshead. In 2014 William won the Essex Young Musician of the year competition and in 2015 won the Clarinet Prize in the RCM's annual Woodwind Competition. In the same year William took part in the London Symphony Orchestra's Academy with principal players from the orchestra and performed with professional Welsh orchestra Simfonia Cymru at the Royal Albert Hall as part of Bryn Terfel's 50th birthday celebrations. He has recently appeared with the Nash Ensemble and the London Chamber Orchestra and last year was the soloist in Finzi's clarinet concerto with the Southend Symphony Orchestra.

He is a keen chamber musician and has performed at the Wigmore hall with Essex-based wind ensemble, ‘The Original Woodwind Ensemble' as well as competing in a number of national competitions with the group and being selected to perform the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with a professional string quartet at RCM. He holds ambitions to pursue a career as an orchestral clarinettist and chamber musician but always relishes the opportunity to perform as a concerto soloist.