Robert Percival Bassoon

Trained as a modern bassoonist at the Birmingham Conservatoire and at the Royal Northern College of Music, Robert Percival began playing historical bassoons and contrabassoons in 2001. He now performs repertoire from Bach to Brahms and Mahler with many leading early instrument groups, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in London and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées in France. 

When he’s not playing, Robert is kept busy as a freelance music copyist, editor and arranger. His music preparation work for major publishers and composers has included some of the most noted new music premieres of recent years. His expertise in 18th- and 19th-century repertoire is also much in demand from colleagues and ensembles. Robert’s arrangements have been performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and at the BBC Prom concerts. More recently, his arrangements and editions for wind ensemble have formed the core of Boxwood & Brass’s repertoire, as well as the basis of his ongoing research at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he holds a doctoral scholarship. 

Learn more about the instruments Robert plays here.