Graham Sheen was born in Southampton in 1952. His start in music, which was entirely fortuitous, came at the age of twelve when, in a class music lesson, he heard himself volunteer to learn the bassoon. At that time he had no clear idea of what this instrument was but he must have persevered. A few years later, and ignoring all admonitions to "get yourself a proper job", Graham enrolled in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was duly awarded a diploma (which he seems to have mislaid) and stumbled into the profession that has kindly supported him ever since. He has been principal bassoonist of both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields for a very long time now and since 1979 Graham has been professor of bassoon at the Guildhall, where he has endevoured to help generations of students to avoid, like himself, all "proper" employment. His other musical efforts have resulted in over fifty published arrangements, educational works, editions and original works and, most recently, two solo CDs for SFZ Music.
E-mail: graham.sheen@googlemail.com