Ruth Rosales bassoon, Ben Hudson bassoon

Ruth is a freelance animateur and bassoonist and currently works all over the United Kingdom. Half English and half Venezuelan, she grew up in the Lake District, before studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater.

In 2013 she was accepted onto the Spitalfields Music Animateur Trainee Scheme and since then has been increasingly in demand as a concert presenter and workshop leader.

She has presented schools and family orchestral concerts for the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the City of London Sinfonia, the Brandenburg Sinfonia, Deal Festival, the Multi Storey Orchestra, and Southbank Sinfonia and led creative music workshops for the City of London Sinfonia, the Brillig Ensemble, the Southbank Sinfonia and assisted on workshops for the Britten Sinfonia, the Bath Phil and at the Wigmore Hall.

Benjamin Benjamin studied bassoon at both Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music, and at the High School for the Arts in Berlin. After his studies, Ben returned to Manchester to take up the positions of Principal Bassoon with the Northern Chamber Orchestra and sub-Principal Bassoon with the Manchester Camerata. Two years ago he was appointed as Second Bassoon with the Hallé, and continues to freelance with orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic, Opera North, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In the field of chamber music, he was a founder member of ‘Ensemble 360’, making many recordings and broadcasts, and giving recitals throughout the UK.

Ben was the woodwind winner and concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musicians’ 1996  Competition and his concerto performances include those with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southern Sinfonia, and the Northern Chamber Orchestra. He has given many recitals under the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme and a performance in a BBC Proms Composer Portrait. He is also regularly involved in the Learning in Participation work with the Manchester Camerata.