Timothy Rundle heard the oboe for the first time aged 7, at a local concert.  He was instantly captivated by its unique and special sound. His parents took him to meet the oboe player after the concert who was very happy to chat, and let him hold his oboe.  He advised that, in a year’s time Tim might be old enough to start learning.  A year later, aged 8, Tim had his first lesson with that same oboist, Robert Wells, who became his oboe teacher for the next few years.

After learning with Jenni Phillips at the Junior Department of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire he then attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, studying with Jonathan Small before setting off on the path towards becoming a professional musician.

After graduating Tim freelanced successfully and was appointed in 2005 to his first job with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow where he spent 6 happy years, met his wife (a bassoonist, now in the orchestra of the royal opera house) and started a family.

In 2011 he moved to Kent after being appointed the 2nd Oboe in the Philharmonia Orchestra. It was then a dream come true to be appointed Principal Oboe of the Philharmonia in December 2018.

Outside of musical life Tim enjoys living in the English countryside with his wife and two children, and is kept busy growing vegetables and looking after a small menagerie of animals, his favourite being two pigs.

 

Caroline Palmer has established a reputation as an outstanding chamber musician and dedicated teacher. She is a professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Caroline has broadcast regularly for the BBC and recently recorded the Brahms Cello Sonatas and the Vier Ernste Gesange with Bartholomew LaFollette. She has also recorded the cello works of Busoni, Fauré, Saint-Saëns and Fuchs. She has worked with many artists including Johannes Goritzki, Alexander Rudin, Truls Mork, Enrico Dindo, Melissa Phelps, Atle Sponberg, Krzysztof Smietana, Matthias Lingenfelder, Philippe Graffin and Leonid Gorokhov.

Recent performances have taken her to festivals in Norway, Germany and Switzerland. Born in Singapore, Caroline Palmer later moved to London to study with Edith Vogel, Peter Wallfisch and Hans Keller.