Graham Sheen

Biography

Graham Sheen (b.1952) has enjoyed a wide ranging career as a bassoonist and teacher. In 1973, after graduating at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he joined the English Opera Group as principal bassoon under the direction of Benjamin Britten. After two years he moved to the English Chamber Orchestra and in the following year became its principal bassoonist. At this time he appeared in many of the orchestra’s most distinguished collaborations, most notably the Mozart cycles of Daniel Barenboim, Murray Perahia and later Mitsuko Ushida. During this same year (1976) he was invited by Sir Neville Marriner to become principal bassoonist of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, a position which he retained until 2016.  He has appeared with both orchestras as soloist on numerous occasions in some of the world’s most prestigious festivals and has made many solo recordings for disc and radio. In 1983 he relinquished his post in the English Chamber Orchestra to join the BBC Symphony Orchestra where he served as principal bassoonist until 2017. 

From 1979 to 2016 Graham has been a professor of bassoon at Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he also directs many wind ensemble projects. He now concentrates on chamber music coaching and assessments and also repertoire classes. Graham has himself been an active chamber musician and has recorded many of the major works in the repertoire with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble. For eight years he was director of Wind Chamber Music at Canford Summer School. He has had some thirty arrangements and educational works for winds published, many of which appear in the examination syllabus of the Royal Schools of Music.

Graham has recently recorded two CDs representing a retrospective of his work as bassoonist, arranger and composer. They include premiere recordings of new transcriptions of works by Mendelssohn and Schumann, a reconstruction of Bernhard Crusell’s Airs Suedois, Patrick Nunn’s Gonk for bassoon and sound file, as well as his own American Sketches, 5 Concert Studies, La Tristesse du Roi for 4 bassoons and a new version of Goodbye, Mr Galliard for modern bassoon and piano.