Johns, Terence

Terry began his career in brass at age ten in the band of Tower Colliery in South Wales where his father worked as a miner. He was awarded a Glamorgan scholarship at age eighteen to study the French horn with Barry Tuckwell at the Royal Academy of music in London. Terry later became professor of horn at the Academy. He also conducted brass ensemble classes there, and was later appointed an associate. In the distinguished career that followed he was to become a member of the London Mozart players, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, always in demand for the leading brass ensembles, such as the Barry Tuckwell Horn Quartet, Locke Brass Consort and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Terry composed, conducted and arranged music for the RPO brass and LSO brass. He also composed the theme and incidental music for Harlech TV’s The Pretenders, the orchestra being assembled from London’s ‘session’ community and principals from the London orchestras – he conducted the recording sessions himself at Abbey road studios. He arranged the final hymn for the Rhos Cwmtawe Male Choir and the solo trumpet of Maurice Murphy at the memorial service for the actor Richard Burton at the church of St. Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square. He played as a member of the LSO at the opening concert of the Barbican centre and at the eightieth birthday concert of Aaron Copland, and as a studio player in backing orchestras for many top performers such as Tony Bennett, Barbara Streisand, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon. Terry played on dozens of film soundtracks, including Battle of Britain, Diamonds are Forever, Superman, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi where he can be heard playing the famous horn solo at the funeral of Darth Vader. Terry and his wife Karin now live in Edinburgh where he spends his time composing, conducting, teaching, and enjoying his associate conductorship with the Co-operative Funeralcare Band who recently gave the first performance of his Gull Dances for band on Radio Scotland’s Classics Unwrapped, with the composer conducting. The concert also included the first broadcast performance of Terry’s Hard Hats and Cornets. Terry is also chairman of the award winning Alba Brass group and his instrumental and brass music is published and performed throughout Europe, America and the Far East. Terry also publishes his own music – see www.renfieldmuse.page.tl