Soloist · Teacher · Repertoire Advocate
David Childs
A leading orchestral advocate for the euphonium, whose commissions, recordings, teaching, and concerto appearances have helped move the instrument beyond its traditional brass-band home.
| Nationality | British |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981 |
| Active | 2000–present |
| Associations | University of North Texas, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cory Band |
| Plays | Besson Prestige 2052 · Besson international soloist |
David Childs grew up in the English brass-band tradition, learning from his father, Robert Childs, in a family whose connection to the euphonium spans generations. In 2000 he became the first euphonium player to win the brass final of BBC Young Musician of the Year. The achievement was more than a competition result: it put Philip Wilby’s concerto and the euphonium itself before a large mainstream classical audience.
Childs has since made the concerto stage the centre of his work. He has appeared with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, and other orchestras, as well as giving recitals in major British halls and a 2010 Carnegie Hall performance of Karl Jenkins’s concerto. His Symphonic Euphonium recordings pursue the same argument on disc, pairing established concertos with new commissions and orchestral versions made specifically for the instrument.
That advocacy also takes place through teaching and repertoire development. Childs is Professor of Euphonium at the University of North Texas and a visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. His selected repertoire includes original concertos, orchestral transcriptions, and recital programmes designed to show the euphonium as more than a specialist brass-band solo voice.
He performs on a Besson Prestige 2052 and has remained closely identified with the instrument through his work as a Besson artist. For listeners, his recordings of the Horovitz Concerto and Wilby Concerto make a useful comparison: one a foundational classic, the other a modern technical summit, both treated as orchestral music rather than novelty repertoire.
Start listening
Performances connected to this player in the repertoire catalogue.
- Concerto for Euphonium
Philip Wilby · The Symphonic Euphonium
- Euphonium Concerto
Joseph Horovitz · The Symphonic Euphonium
Links & sources
- Official / profile ↗
- https://www.besson.com/en/artist/david-childs/
- https://facultyinfo.unt.edu/faculty-profile?profile=drc0215
- https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/staff/david-childs
- https://www.davechilds.com/news-and-events/article%3Dchilds-carnegie-hall-debut
- https://www.davechilds.com/discography/recording%3Dsymphonic-euphonium-ii-david-childs-and-bbc-philharmonic