Jo Towler

Jo Towler began playing the horn in her native Yorkshire at the tender age of eight. She was a member of the National Youth Wind Orchestra and performed in many ensembles in the north, including Orchestre d’Amici and the Melachrino Orchestra, before gaining a Sir Thomas Beecham Scholarship to read music at Edinburgh University. Whilst there Jo was awarded a Fellowship to Tanglewood Music Center, USA, to study and perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as winning the Tovey Memorial Prize and the brass section of the Edinburgh Competition Festival. She also performed and recorded with National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Camerata Scotland and One Voice New Music Ensemble. Further scholarships enabled Jo to continue her studies at the Royal College of Music, London, with Tim Brown and Sue Dent. After 20 years of being based in London, Jo now lives in Yorkshire and performs with groups across the region, as well as still regularly visiting London for playing. Current and recent ensembles include Hallam Sinfonia, Forest Philharmonic, Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra, I Maestri, W5 Wind Quintet and Five Belles Wind Quintet. Most recently she played in a conducting masterclass with Marin Alsop and the BBC Concert Orchestra and toured China as Co-principal horn of the Czech Symphony Orchestra. She has performed Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 3 in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and both of Strauss’s Horn Concertos, as well as Schumann’s Konzertstück.