Howard Dunster Snell (born 21 September 1936) was born in Wollaston, Northamptonshire, England. Biography Study Snell trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1953–56), studying trumpet with George Eskdale, then Principal Trumpet with the London Symphony Orchestra. He also studied piano, harmony and counterpoint. Together with Cornelius Cardew, Richard Rodney Bennett, Ncholas Maw and others he was active in starting an unofficial New Music Club. Cardew and Bennett both wrote several solo works for Snell to play: they included Cardew's Rhythmic Pieces and Bennett's Parallels, both of which, several years later (late 1950s), he performed at an Aldeburgh Festival Concert with the composers in the Jubilee Hall. Career As trumpeter Snell's first position as a trumpet player was as Principal Trumpet with the Sadlers Wells Opera Orchestra (1957-1960). In September 1960 he joined the London Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal, moving later in the 60s to the Principal chair. While with the LSO he recorded (EMI) as a soloist (Grace Williams Concerto) and twice on BBC1TV (Hummel, Haydn). He was a member of the LSO's Board of Directors for nine years (1966–75), the last five of which were as chairman. During this period he also held the position of Principal Trumpet with the London Sinfonietta continuing his interest in contemporary music. Hans Werner Henze's Sonatina for Solo Trumpet (dedicated to Snell) was another result of this interest. On leaving the LSO in August 1976, of the next two years he freelanced in the studios, additionally serving as Principal Trumpet of the English Chamber Orchestra during that time. He terminated his playing career in August 1978. As orchestral conductor At the start of the 1970s, while still in the LSO, Snell had begun conducting, focussing on classical repertoire with the Erato Orchestra, an expert amateur orchestra made up mainly of former NYO players. In 1976 he founded his own Wren Orchestra, and sponsored by London's Capital Radio, their first concert series took place at the Mermaid Theatre in the summer of 1976. The Wren Orchestra's relationship with Capital Radio continued for the next two decades, with commercial recordings in the early 1980s of mainstream repertoire (Mozart, Haydn, Tschaikovsky, Gershwin and Copland) for Warner Records. As conductor of the English Haydn Festival in Bridgnorth in the early 1990s he maintained his interest in a composer he especially values. However by the late 1980s Snell had already begun a gradual move