Mark Vines

Mark's eventual career as a horn player began with a successful early audition, at the age of nine, involving getting a single note out of a tenor horn. Soon switching to the French horn, Mark joined the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra, with which he toured the USA and New Zealand, convincing him that travelling and playing the horn was a desirable way to earn a living.

After attending the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music, and touring extensively with the European Union Youth Orchestra, Mark finally achieved his aim by being appointed Principal Horn of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1998.

He remained in this position for 13 years, performing several times as a soloist with the orchestra, before moving back to England in 2011 to join the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Principal Horn. In addition to the busy LPO schedule, Mark regularly plays guest principal horn with many of the other major UK symphony orchestras.

Since April 2024 Mark has been President of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Board of Directors.

Mark featured in the ‘Backstage’ interview in our Autumn 2024 edition of the Orchestra’s magazine, Tune In. Read the interview here.