Principal horn player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Andrew Clark is known for his stylish performances of Baroque and Classical repertoire on the natural horn. He has made several solo recordings for well-known labels, including Mozart's Horn Quintet, Beethoven's Horn Sonata and Brahms' Horn Trio, (please see other pages) and he teaches natural horn in London at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He performs on a variety of different horns according to the historical context of the repertoire (see My Horns).
After studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with horn professors Anthony Halstead, Jeffrey Bryant and Anthony Chidell, he freelanced with all of London's major orchestras and period instrument ensembles before specialising on historical instruments when Sir Roger Norrington appointed him as principal horn of the London Classical Players in 1990. One of his main areas of interest since then has been the high "clarino" horn parts written in many eighteenth century works, characteristically composed by Bach, Handel, and occasionally Haydn. Examples of the results of this research may be heard in his recordings of all of Bach's twenty-five horn obbligati and several other works, such as Handel's Julius Caesar and Haydn's Symphonies 48 & 51.
In attempting to improve upon knowledge of the natural horn and its technique, Andrew Clark has written a book of Sixteen Etudes, published by Mitre Music, and an article for the Historic Brass Society on the horn's transition to valves as exemplified by the works for horn and piano by Carl Czerny. The latter were recorded with pianist Geoffrey Govier in 1999.
Performing in the Edinburgh Festival in 1996 with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Hanover Band (broadcast "live" on BBC Radio 3) brought prominence in the national press for playing the horn obbligato in Haydn's concert aria Pieta di Me, possibly the highest horn part ever written. It was shortly after these reviews appeared that EMI Classics made contact, resulting in recordings of several of the most famous pieces of chamber music for the horn.
Andrew Clark travels extensively, having performed in North and South America, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Europe. He lives in the south of England with his wife, bassoonist Katrina Russell.