Will Duerden, double bass

Double bassist Will Duerden is a highly sought-after artist, in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader with a growing international career spanning four continents. Will rose to prominence after reaching the Strings Category Final of 2018 BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition. 

In 2023 Will was a winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust international auditions, and was subsequently nominated as a Classic FM ‘Rising Star’ 2024, and announced as a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship artist.

Recent performance highlights for Will include his debut at St. George’s Bristol and performances at the North Norfolk Music and Buxton International Festivals. This season Will performs widely throughout the UK, including concerts at the Wigmore Hall, Brighton Dome, Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, and at the Aldeburgh Festival where he joins a stellar ensemble of YCAT artists past and present to celebrate the charity’s 40th anniversary.

Soon after he started playing aged 7, Will was awarded a full scholarship to the Yehudi Menuhin School, and studied with Caroline Emery. He went on to study at the Royal College of Music on a full ABRSM scholarship for his Bachelor's Degree, and continued on at the Royal College for his Master’s, where he is currently studying with Rodrigo Moro Martin. His studies are also supported by the Drake Calleja Trust. 

Competition successes include winning the Yorke Double Bass Prize in the 2023 Royal Overseas League Strings Competition Final, and reaching the upcoming semifinal in the 2023 International Society of Bassists Competition. He has also been a First Prize winner at the Haslemere String Competition, RCM Bass Competition two years running, Peter Morrison Concerto Competition, and most recently the RCM Concerto Competition. 

Will is a keen chamber musician, and has worked with such fine artists as Lawrence Power, the Sitkovetsky Trio, Echea Quartet, Castalian Quartet, Daniel Lebhardt and Olivier Stankievicz among others. He is also a member of the LGT Young Soloists, a group of outstanding young musicians who perform internationally in venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. 

As a soloist, he has appeared with the Horsham Symphony Orchestra, the European Youth Summer Music Symphony Orchestra and the Waverley Ensemble, and performs Ian Stephens’ double bass concerto ‘Scenes from a Modern War’ with the Kensington Chamber Orchestra in October 2024. A purveyor of new music, Will has had several significant new works specially written for him, with recent premieres of a significant new solo work in London and Milan, with further commissions in the planning. 

Will has also distinguished himself as a leading orchestral player, regularly performing with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Aurora Orchestra (including a BBC Prom plus a tour to Germany and Finland performing Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' from memory), and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Recently Will won auditions for Sub-Principal Double Bass with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As the principal bassist in many orchestral projects, he has worked closely with conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Andrew Davis and Vasily Petrenko.  

He is also honoured to have been selected by the LSO Conservatoire Scholarship, LSO Scheme, the BBC Symphony Orchestral Scheme and Countess of Munster Musical Trust. 

Will enjoys all aspects of the double bass. He has a passion for everything from baroque music to jazz, and wants to pursue a performing career encompassing all styles and genres.