Jack Brymer

Jack Brymer
Brymer in the 1950s
Background information
Birth name	John Alexander Brymer
Born	(1915-01-27)27 January 1915 South Shields, County Durham, England
Died	16 September 2003(2003-09-16) (aged 88) Redhill, Surrey, England
Occupation	Musician

John Alexander Brymer OBE (27 January 1915 – 16 September 2003) was an English clarinettist and saxophonist.^[1] The Times called him "the leading clarinettist of his generation, perhaps of the century".^[2] He was largely self-taught as a player and he performed as an amateur before being invited by Sir Thomas Beecham to join the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1947. He remained with the orchestra until 1963, two years after Beecham's death.

Brymer played in the BBC Symphony and London Symphony Orchestras. He was also associated with several chamber music ensembles, and maintained a lifelong pleasure in playing jazz. He held professorships during most of the period from 1950 to 1993, first at the Royal Academy of Music, then at the Royal Military School of Music and finally at the Guildhall School of Music. He was a regular broadcaster, as a player and presenter and made recordings of solo works and with orchestras and smaller ensembles. He published two volumes of memoirs and a book about the clarinet.