About the ensemble

Olivia is a former student of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. During her studies she won the Evelyn Barbirolli Oboe Prize and the Harold Clark Woodwind Prize. She was awarded the TCM Trust Silver Medal for Wind, Brass and Percussion and the Audience Prize at the Gold Medal Showcase. She trained with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as part of Trinity Laban’s orchestral partnership scheme. Following her studies, Olivia toured with Glyndebourne Opera as a participant of the Pit Perfect Graduate scheme.

Olivia enjoys a varied career of freelancing in the UK and abroad. She is a regular guest with many of London’s top orchestras, including The Orchestra of the Royal Opera and Ballet, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera and London Contemporary Orchestra.

Alongside her classical performance work, Olivia also has a love of musical theatre. She has worked extensively in London’s West End previously holding the oboe chair on Spirited Away at the London Coliseum, Aspects of Love at the Lyric Theatre and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 at the Donmar Theatre.

Olivia can be heard on the soundtracks of numerous acclaimed films and television series. She has worked on major titles such as One Battle after Another, Apex, Bugonia, Matrix, Thunderbolts* and The Seven Dials Mystery.

Chris Goodman is a London-based clarinettist whose career encompasses solo, orchestral, chamber and contemporary music. He performs regularly with many of the UK’s leading orchestras and ensembles. Chris’s early studies begain in North Wales before becoming a scholar at the Royal College of Music, graduating in 2010 after studying with Timothy Lines, Barnaby Robson and Richard Hosford, alongside bass clarinet with Paul Richards. During his studies he was awarded a Wolfson Foundation Scholarship and the Steven Trier Prize, and participated in English National Opera’s Emerge Scheme. He subsequently performed as Principal and Bass Clarinet with the Symphony and Opera Orchestras at the Castleton Festival under the baton of Lorin Maazel.

As a soloist, Chris has performed concertos by Mozart, Spohr, Weber and Krommer. A twelve-concert tour of China with London Arte Orchestra, performing Weber’s Second Clarinet Concerto, marked a turning point after working in market research for a year. He performs regularly with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Birmingham Royal Ballet. He has also performed with leading contemporary ensembles Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Octandre Ensemble, Uproar Ensemble and East London Music Group.
Alongside performing Chris is an experienced chamber musician, teacher and orchestral coach, maintaining an active private practice.

Ben started playing bassoon at age 9, and after studying at Wells Cathedral School for his teenage years went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal College of Music. Whilst at RCM he won the Royal College of Music Concerto Competition.
During his career, Ben has performed with a wide range of orchestras and ensembles all over the world: from the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, and Royal Opera House orchestras, to backing orchestras for rock bands such as Deep Purple and Rick Wakeman. Ben is also a keen chamber musician and has played with the Gaudier Ensemble, the London Myriad Ensemble, and the Hastings Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet.

Upcoming concerts

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Ensemble type

Wind ensemble

Musicians
Olivia Fraser-James – Oboe
Chris Goodman – Clarinet
Ben Exell – Bassoon
Past concerts

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