Linda Merrick, CBE

Professor Linda Merrick CBE is Principal of the RNCM and an internationally-renowned clarinet soloist, recording artist and pedagogue.

Her catalogue of over 40 solo recordings features new concertos she has commissioned by Gary Carpenter, Nigel Clarke, Martin Ellerby, John McLeod, Stephen McNeff, Edwin Roxburgh, Philip Sparke, Philip Spratley, Kit Turnbull and Guy Woolfenden for labels including Naxos, Chandos, NMC, Guild and Metier. She has also released premiere recordings of clarinet quintets with the Navarra and Kreutzer Quartets by composers including Simon Bainbridge, Nigel Clarke, Robert Crawford, Michael Finnissy, Wilfred Josephs, John McCabe and Edwin Roxburgh, with recordings of works by Adam Gorb, David Horne, Mihailo Trandifilovski, Paul Patterson and Paul Pellay due to be released in 2024. In addition, Linda has commissioned and recorded over 20 works for clarinet and electronics, and released two CDs featuring works for clarinet and harpsicord by Robert Keeley.

Linda has performed as a concerto soloist across America, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, the UAE and the UK, and broadcast for BBC Radio 3, Radio France, DRS1 Switzerland, CKWR Canada and Arte TV South Korea. A founder member of the contemporary ensemble ‘Sounds Positive’, she has premiered over 80 chamber works for winds and piano by British composers, and released a further three CDs.

In addition to her position as Principal at the RNCM, Linda is Chair of Conservatoires UK and UK representative for TW Howarth Clarinets. She was awarded a CBE for services to music in higher education in the 2023 King’s New Year Honours.

• Collaboration between performers and composers
• Female leadership in conservatoires

Linda's current research activity is focused on extending her exploration of the collaborative artistic process through the medium of the clarinet quintet. At this stage, she is examining in-depth the impact of extended artistic partnerships between composers and performers on the creative impetus and artistic process and output.

This research is centred primarily on established British composers, some in the latter stages of their careers; a generation whose work is otherwise at risk of being overlooked and whose experience is leading to high quality, significant and sustainable additions to the canon as they enter their autumnal years.

In parallel, Linda continues to commission and record clarinet concertos and chamber works from emerging but distinctive and diverse voices with a view to broadening the impact and reach of this repertory. Complementing her catalogue of over 40 solo recordings to date, her more recent and pending commissions extend beyond the clarinet quintet medium to embrace other chamber music combinations for clarinet, strings and piano.

In terms of future publications, Linda is currently completing work on a book in collaboration with Professor Anna Reid, Dean of Sydney Conservatorium, University of Sydney. This will explore female leadership in conservatoires across different contexts and cultures, drawing on the 10-12 years the authors have each held their respective positions.

In addition to presenting her research at conferences in the UK and overseas, Linda's publications include a frequently cited monograph drawn from her doctorate thesis, entitled Collaboration between Composers and Performers: British Clarinet Concertos 1990-2004. VDM Verlag ISBN 978-3-639-18619-2 (2009).

Linda's other research interests include extended performance techniques for clarinet (on which she has presented at conservatoires worldwide) and repertory for clarinet and live electronics, building on her pioneering work and previous recorded output for this medium.