Leon Bosch

The Cape Town-born virtuoso double bassist Leon Bosch is one of today’s most versatile and imaginative artists. His wide-ranging interests have taken him in many directions, all of which have fed into a unique career and helped to establish his international reputation as an outstanding musician. In addition to a high-profile orchestral life – he is currently principal double bass of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields – he is sought after as a chamber musician, recitalist, concerto soloist, teacher and programmer.

He graduated from the University of Cape Town and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In 1984 he made his London debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra and has performed with many distinguished musicians, including Pinchas Zukerman, Sir Charles Groves and Nicholas Kraemer.

He has played at festivals in the UK, Germany, Bulgaria, Ireland and South Africa. His chamber music partnerships have included the Lindsay, Belcea and Brodsky String Quartets, I Musicanti, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble and the Moscow Virtuosi and pianists, Maria João Pires, Mikhail Rudy, Vladimir Ovchinikov, Peter Donohoe, Martin Roscoe and Sung-Suk Kang.

His innovative approach to music-making and the double bass – communicated from the platform and through teaching, examining and adjudicating – have done much to raise the profile of the instrument.

He has contributed to recording tracks of such pop artists as Madonna, Robbie Williams, Michael Jackson and Björk while his constantly expanding horizons have led him to explore challenging and little-known music for double bass. He has been responsible for a number of important first performances including Pueblo, a commission from John McCabe, works by Allan Stephenson and the South African composer Hendrik Hofmeyr.

Leon Bosch is a graduate of the University of Salford in Intelligence and International Relations. He lives on the outskirts of London with his wife and two sons.