Hailing from the Wirral, Linton Stephens studied first at the Royal Northern College of Music and then at the Hochschule für Musik, Liszt Academie in Weimar, Germany. Today, he enjoys a multi-stranded career combining the role of performer – as sub-principal bassoon of Chineke! Orchestra and artistic associate of the Multi-Story Orchestra – with that of broadcaster, hosting Classical Fix, the friendly, musically omnivorous podcast on BBC Radio 3, and also regularly presenting Radio 3 in Concert. He also works as a consultant on the subject of diversity and inclusion within the arts.
- How can we increase diversity in classical music?
- Jessye Norman: trailblazing opera singer, early diversity champion
Linton Stephens's musical choices
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Buffalo Soldier
Island Records
My dad is from Jamaica and Bob Marley and the Wailers was always on the car radio. Driving across the Pennines from our home in the Wirral to see my dad’s family in Sheffield, my six brothers and sisters all squashed into the back seat, we’d all sing along to ‘Buffalo Soldier’. I love all of Bob Marley’s music, but the message in these lyrics is particularly poignant.
Grieg: Peer Gynt
Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner
Chandos CHSA 5190
I first fell in love with classical music when I heard the theme tune to the Alton Towers TV advert – ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ from Grieg’s Peer Gynt. It made me want to go out and find out more, so I took myself off to Bebington Library, where I looked up instruments on Encarta 95, and followed up with complete works on CD.
I was playing the oboe at eight thanks to Wirral Schools Music Service, which was amazing in the early 1990s. They did pitch tests in Year 4 and those with the highest score were offered instrumental tuition.
I played the oboe for three years but I’d seen a bassoon on Encarta and was fascinated by this strange instrument. Inspired by Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice I asked the teacher if I could change instruments, but she said I was too small!
When I was 16 a friend told me the youth orchestra needed a bassoon, so I jumped at the chance to take lessons. I practised hard and I was enthusiastic, so I was given lots of opportunities to play.
Since then I have forged my own path; I haven’t focussed on being a soloist – there are not many solo bassoonists – but I’ve managed to do things I love. As well as playing with Chineke! and other orchestras, I’m involved in broadcasting and social activism (chairing the Musicians’ Union Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee) – I’m lucky I’ve been able to make space to do it all.
You can see pictures of Linton Stephens and other classical music stars in our photo gallery from the 2023 BBC Music Magazine Awards.
Weber: Andante and Hungarian Rondo
Karen Geoghegan (bassoon); Orchestra of Opera North/Benjamin Wallfisch
Chandos CHAN 10477
I picked up my first CD of bassoon music at HMV in Liverpool, by Yoshiyuki Nakanishi. Hearing Carl Maria von Weber’s Andante and Hungarian Rondo, I had no idea the bassoon could sound so virtuosic. When I found a French edition, I was able to get my fingers around the music and I thought, ‘I can actually do this!’ It’s an amazing piece – it’s got fireworks, a bassoony melody in the Rondo and a singing quality in the opening of the Andante.
In 2013, I went to study in Weimar with Frank Forst, and I performed it in one of our bassoon class concerts. It’s a challenging piece – the last bit is super fast, with rapid tonguing – but I’m happy I performed it as the culmination of my studies.
Brahms Symphony No. 2
Leipzig Gewandhaus/Herbert Blomstedt
Pentatone PTC5186851
When I was in music college I took part in the BBC Philharmonic’s access scheme and played with them in Brahms’s Symphony No. 2. I had played it as first bassoon with the Merseyside Youth Orchestra, so sitting with the BBC Phil and playing the first bassoon part was an incredible moment for a young lad who’d only been playing for a year or two.
- Brahms features in our lists of greatest composers of all time, and (of course) greatest German composers of all time
- ... but how many of his symphonies made our list of the 20 greatest symphonies?
Fast forward a couple of years and it happened to be the first piece I played professionally, as second bassoon with the BBC Philharmonic in Huddersfield Town Hall. It was my gateway to the profession.
Michelle Branch: Everywhere
Michelle Branch’s ‘Everywhere’ came out when I was 16, and it was the piece that defined the summer before I turned into an adult. Now, if life feels a bit heavy for me, that is the album I’ll put on to remind me of a simpler time. The song feels like summer and sunshine: a time when I was free of school and responsibility and the days went on for ever. We certainly all need some of that sunshine right now.