Bennett, William

William Bennett was a renown British flute player and teacher.
Born in London, he initially studied flute with Geoffrey Gilbert, then with Jean-Pierre Rampal in Paris and Marcel Moyse in Switzerland. He has been principal flute in many orchestras including the London Symphony, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the English Chamber Orchestra.
He has been Professor of Flute in the Freiburg Hochschule of Music in Germany, and taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
In addition to making a Balalaika and a Guitar whilst at school, he has made and improved Flutes from an early age and has done a lot of work on improving and refining the tuning of the flute.
So, several makers in the world now make flute on the "William Bennett Scale".
He has enjoyed long lasting musical partnerships with harpsichordist George Malcolm and pianist Clifford Benson, with whom he has extensively recorded. He has made solo recordings with Yehudi Menuhin, the Grumiaux Trio, I Musici, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the English Chamber Orchestra. Along with his wife Michie he ran highly acclaimed International Flute Summer School.