Robert Plane’s career as a solo and chamber clarinettist is rich and varied. Concerto performances around the world have included Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in Madrid (with the City of London Sinfonia), Beijing (BBC National Orchestra of Wales) and on tour in the USA (Virginia Symphony). He has appeared as soloist with the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka, BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Scottish Ensemble, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. He made his BBC Proms concerto debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 2011, in Simon Holt’s double concerto ‘Centauromachy’.
Rob has tirelessly pursued his passion for British clarinet music in concert and on disc. He has become particularly associated with Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto since his acclaimed recording of that work with Royal Northern Sinfonia won a Gramophone Award. In 2026 Rob marked the 70th anniversary of Finzi’s death with a commemorative performance of his concerto with Sinfonia Smith Square in London’s Temple Church.
He has enjoyed a close artistic partnership with the Gould Piano Trio for over thirty years, their recording of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time to mark the composer’s centenary being hailed by BBC Music Magazine as the ‘finest modern recording’ of this epic masterpiece. He also appears on the Goulds’ recorded cycles of Beethoven and Brahms Trios. Together, they direct the Corbridge Chamber Music Festival in Northumberland, a four-day event which celebrates its 30th edition in 2028.
Rob is a regular partner of renowned string quartets. He opened BBC Radio 3’s ‘Brahms Experience’ week with a live broadcast from St. George’s Bristol of the Brahms Quintet with the Škampa Quartet and has toured the USA and Germany with the Mandelring Quartett. He enjoys a close relationship with the Elias String Quartet, making his debut at the 2023 Schubertiade Schwarzenberg with them in Brahms, joining them at the Wigmore Hall for Brahms and Bliss and giving the world premiere of Judith Bingham’s clarinet quintet ‘Elsewhere’ at the 2024 Three Choirs Festival. The Marmen, Castalian, Heath, Maggini, Brodsky, Carducci and Sacconi Quartets have all been regular partners.
Rob is clarinettist of Ensemble 360, exploring chamber music of all kinds with them at their home in the Crucible, Sheffield and country-wide, as well as a member of Trio Meister Raro with violist Rachel Roberts and pianist Tim Horton.
He has curated an
d recorded forty solo and chamber CDs. Alongside classics of the repertoire he has released two albums of commissioned works for Resonus Classics, an album of rediscovered British concertos with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Champs Hill Records and an acclaimed account of ‘Pierrot Lunaire’ and other Pierrot-inspired works with Ensemble 360 and Claire Booth for Onyx Classics. He has revived and recorded a comprehensive collection of works from the English Romantic tradition, including three albums of music by Pamela Harrison, the subject of his current PhD studies at Cardiff University.
Rob was principal clarinet of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for over twenty years and held the same position with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia. In a distinguished orchestral career, he has performed as guest principal clarinet with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, London Symphony Orchestra and in Aurora Orchestra’s performances of Brahms Symphony no. 1 from memory. He was invited by composer James Newton Howard to be solo clarinettist for the score to the Disney film Maleficent. A respected teacher and educator, he holds the post of Head of Woodwind Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.