Denis Wick

British trombonist Denis Wick was born in Braintree, Essex on 1 June 1931, and taught himself to play the trombone from the age of ten.  He decided to become a trombonist when he heard Malcolm Arnold playing trumpet in an orchestral concert. He spent a year at the Royal Academy of Music in London, but left after claiming that he didn't learn anything there.

He played with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from 1950 and with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1952, where in 1955 he worked with the composer to give the first performance of Gordon Jacob's Trombone Concerto.

From 1957 until 1988, he was principal trombone with the London Symphony Orchestra, where he moved the section onto 'large bore' American trombones to get a larger sound. He's known particularly for his solo in Mahler's Symphony No 3 on a 1970 Unicorn recording, and for his playing in John Williams' music for the Star Wars films.

He taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1967-1989) and also at the Royal Academy of Music from 2000. He also worked as a youth orchestra conductor, and designed mouthpieces and mutes for brass instruments through his own company, commenting that 'money was never the motivation ... the idea was to solve the problem'.

Denis Wick died on 12 February 2025, aged ninety-three.

 

A selection of articles about Denis Wick

Classical music news - February 2025 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month