Christopher Parkes is Solo horn of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was previously solo horn of the Royal Philharmonic, 3rd horn of the London Philharmonic and is also principal horn of the John Wilson Orchestra and Sinfonia of London.
He performs regularly as principal horn with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Opera House, Munich Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, Swedish Radio Symphony and Aurora, with conductors including Daniel Harding, John Wilson, Klaus Mäkelä and Gianandrea Noseda.
Chamber music projects and recordings have been made with artists such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Gwilym Simcock and Pierre Laurent Aimard.
2022 saw the release of his recording of Britten’s ‘Serenade’ with Andrew Staples, the Swedish Radio Symphony and Daniel Harding (Harmonia Mundi). This was followed in 2023 with ‘Diagonal Music’, a recording with Malin Broman and Simon Crawford-Phillips of trios for horn, violin and piano by Britta Byström and Johannes Brahms (Alba).
Chris studied at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He has been a Professor at the Guildhall since 2011.
