Henry Clay

He graduated with a postgraduate degree from the Royal Academy of Music in 2016, where he studied with Christopher Cowie, Sue Böhling and Melanie Ragge. Prior to this, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester on the Joint Course under the tutelage of Jennifer Galloway and Hugh McKenna.

While still a student at the Academy, Clay began freelancing with various orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He then moved to Glasgow in 2019 to join the Royal Scottish National Opera.

A passionate chamber musician, Clay is also a member of the Cavendish Winds quintet with fellow Academy alumni. They were finalists in the 2016 Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition and were Open Academy/Wigmore Hall Learning Fellows in 2016/2017. The group have also been a part of The Tunnell Trust for Young Musicians and Making Music programmes, and have performed recitals across the country in venues such as Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields and Kings Place.