Thomas Gould

Thomas Gould (born 1983) is a British violinist and the leader of Britten Sinfonia, as well as former leader of Aurora Orchestra. Gould is best known for his playing of the classical music repertoire although he also plays a six-string electric violin and has performed jazz at Ronnie Scott's. He has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre and Royal Festival Hall in London, as well as Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Arena, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and National Indoor Arena.

Early life and education Gould was born in London in 1983. He lives in Camden, London and is the younger brother, by fifteen years, of Clio Gould, lead violinist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied with György Pauk at the Royal Academy of Music from the age of 16. He credits his sister with his choice of career, telling The Daily Telegraph in April 2011 "[…] it was inspirational, but more in a social than a musical way. Clio was always bringing these really lively, interesting people home to rehearse. It seemed an exciting life she was leading, and I wanted to do something similar."

In 2009, aged 25, he was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. In June of the same year, Decca Classics released the Aurora Orchestra's recording of Nico Muhly's Seeing is Believing on which Gould played a six-string electric violin made by John Jordan; the recording was voted the iTunes Contemporary Classical Album of the Year.

In May 2013, Gould discussed his musical approach with Christopher Morely of the Birmingham Post, saying, "It was much later that I began to apply this knowledge to the violin, having always – wrongly – thought that the violin wasn’t a jazz instrument. Now I'm in the luxurious position of being able to get up and jam at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club having just played a recital at Wigmore Hall. But I'm definitely a classical violinist first and foremost. I think my classical playing has benefited massively from working with musicians outside classical music. If I wrote a list of great musicians I've been lucky enough to work with the list would include Brad Mehldau and Radiohead as well as more expected names like Sir Mark Elder and Sir Colin Davis. I think as long as I continue to be inspired by other genres then I will continue to be a genre-crossing violinist."

Gould has performed as soloist and director with Sinfonietta Riga, with whom he recorded Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending. and has worked with Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright and Sigur Rós.

Selected discography

Triplicity (with Jim Rattigan and Liam Noble). Pavillon Records, October 2014, ASIN: B00NBFARIG Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) by J.S. Bach arr Dmitry Sitkovetsky (with Britten Sinfonia). Harmonia Mundi, March 2015, ASIN: B00R8BLKSA