Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Antony Pay is our Principal Clarinettist, and he’s currently on tour with us, taking centre stage with Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No.1. There’s still a chance to catch the performance tonight in Sheffield or Saturday in Basingstoke. We put some quick fire questions to him:

What/when was your big breakthrough?
In January 1968 when the London Sinfonietta did its first concert.  That led quite quickly to work with the LPO and the English Chamber Orchestra, and then to my being appointed first clarinet in the RPO under Kempe…I remember it being a golden year!

What do you fear the most?
I feel most terrified in the moments before throwing myself into a challenge; once I’m actually doing it, it isn’t so bad.  On a more trivial level, I don’t like to feel as though I’m looking stupid, so answering questionnaires like this is difficult.

Which mobile number do you call the most?
I often call my wife;  sometimes that’s just for a lift back from the railway station, but we speak most days when I’m away.

What – or where – is perfection?
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?”