Here are the facts about Richard Watkins:

• Richard Watkins was born in 1962.
• He started playing the horn at the age of nine, and studied with Ifor James at the Royal Academy of Music.
• He uses a Paxman Model 40 B flat/F alto.
• He made his solo debut in 1980 at the Festival hall, and his Proms debut in 1985, playing Schumann's Conzertstück.
• He has also made broadcasts on T.V. and radio.
• In 1982, he premiered Peter Maxwell Davis' 'Sea Eagle', which was written for him.
• He took over the principal horn seat in the Philharmonia when Michael Thompson left in 1985.
• He too, left to pursue a solo and freelance career in 1996.
• He has made rocordings of pieces as taxing as the Ethel Smithe concerto for Horn and Violin.
• He is regarded as a very versatile horn player, and one of the best soloists of today.

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