Martin Gibson RSNO Principal Timpani 

Born in Newcastle - upon - Tyne, I began playing percussion at the early age of eight and timpani at the age of ten. I soon became a member of local and regional youth orchestras moving on to the prestigious National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain before entering the Royal College of Music in London to embark on a three-year course of study at the age of 17.

After graduating, I freelanced for two years with most of the major arts organisations in London, gaining valuable experience which led to the post of timpanist with the newly formed English National Opera North (Opera North), making me one of the youngest full-time timpanists in the country. Whilst I will always have a love for opera, I felt that my destiny was to be on stage with a symphony orchestra. I had only been in Leeds a year when the SNO timp job became vacant and I auditioned successfully and joined in February 1980. Later that year I was asked to teach timpani at the RSAMD and more recently was promoted to be the inaugural head of the timpani and percussion faculty there.

In 2002 my wife and I embarked on a successful relocation to London where I played with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras and Royal Opera and ENO along with featuring on the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings trilogy before being invited to return to Scotland to take up my recently relinquished post with this great Orchestra.

I always enjoy foreign trips with the Orchestra, and performing to new audiences in some spectacular locations. One of the most interesting places I have been to with the Orchestra is Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. We were in the middle of a 10-day trip around major cities and our free day took us to the Imperial Palace. We were very fortunate to have an English-speaking tour guide who led us around these wonderful buildings and gardens and I could only imagine the events that had taken place over the centuries. That particular tour during October/November 1987 was a great success for Neemi Järvi and the orchestra playing a varied repertoire including Dvořák Symphony No4 and Saint-Saëns Symphony No3 on a schedule giving time for a little sight-seeing in just about all of the venues. Standing ovations on tour become the norm but to be in a foreign country in some of the best halls in the world and for the orchestra to be invited to play as many as four encores after a concert encourages great debate in the hotel lobby well into the night and gives a great sense of a job well done!

I have played in some very memorable concerts with the orchestra over the years with many fine conductors and soloists. Notable highlights have included performing Sibelius Symphony No2 in Carnegie Hall with Sir Alex, a performance of Tchaikovsky Symphony No4 in Dumfries and recording Symphonia Domestica with Järvi, Elektra with Walter Weller and Prokofiev Cantata with Alexander Lazarev, and Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique at Stéphane Denève's first BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall. My desert island disc of discs is the opera Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. For other enjoyment and excitement I listen to big band jazz from Ted Heath to Stan Kenton and Count Basie.

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