Biography
Richard Steggall is a freelance horn player, teacher and writer. He studied at the Royal College of Music with Julian Baker and Pip Eastop, during which time he started working with many of London’s top orchestras. He has played guest principal horn with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Philharmonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia and English National Ballet, and further afield with orchestras including RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Dublin. Richard is currently Principal Horn of the National Symphony Orchestra, UK.
As a chamber musician, Richard has worked and toured with Fine Arts Brass, Haffner Winds, Galliard Ensemble, Chroma and The Golden Section. An interest in contemporary music has led him to work with the London Sinfonietta, Composers Ensemble, Ballet Rambert and New Music Players, and he has been a member of Lontano for 18 years. As a soloist, Richard has performed with numerous orchestras, with repertoire including the Mozart and Strauss concertos, and first horn in Schumann‘s Konzertstück for four horns and orchestra – highlights include performing Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Richard has also developed horn and piano recitals for children; he has given two recitals in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall and is a guest artist for Bach to Baby.
Adventures abroad have allowed Richard to conduct masterclasses in various corners of the globe, including at Northwestern University (Evanston, USA), Queensland Conservatorium (Brisbane, Australia), San Jose Academy of the Arts (Costa Rica) and Royal Irish Academy of Music (Dublin, Ireland).
Since leaving college, Richard has always had regular work in the West End. He has deputised in over 30 productions, as well as holding positions in the orchestras of Into the Woods (Donmar), Kiss Me Kate (Victoria Palace), Scrooge (Palladium), Whistle Down the Wind (Palace), The Producers (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s) and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella (Gillian Lynne).
Richard has also undertaken extensive studio work for films and TV, and has recorded with such pop stars as Peter Gabriel, Lionel Richie, Moloko, Cilla Black and Dannii Minogue. He played in the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing band in 2020 and 2021 but his most memorable concert was opening “Live8” with Paul McCartney and U2 playing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band dressed as John Lennon!
Richard is a teacher at Bromley Youth Music Trust where he has helped to develop the very successful Band on the Run scheme, which has started the brass playing journey for hundreds of young people. He has also conceived the Horns on the Run scheme, which involves children learning the French horn from scratch in large and small groups. He has occasionally been known to pick up a baton and, as well as directing the BYMT horn ensemble, he has conducted their Training Band and Senior Band.
Among his successes at the other end of the scale, Richard’s ex-pupils are currently scholars at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He is a guest lecturer for the Royal Academy of Music’s LRAM teaching diploma and in 2022 hosted the inaugural Bromley Horn Day which was attended by over 50 horn players from across South-East England.
As a writer, Richard is the editor of the British Horn Society’s magazine, The Horn Player, as well as contributing to other publications, including writing teaching resources for Music Teacher magazine. His first book, Don’t Fear the Horn is released in 2023.
