Will Duerden, double bass

Double bassist Will Duerden is in high demand as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader with a growing international career spanning four continents. 

A  winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust Live Final Auditions in 2023, he was subsequently nominated as a Classic FM ‘Rising Star’ for  2024, and announced as a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship artist the same year. In 2026 he was selected as a Bowers Program artist for 2027-30 by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York City. 

Recent performance highlights include recitals at Rheingau Klassik-Marathon, Cambridge Summer Music, Buxton Festival and Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern as well as a debut at Bendigo Festival in Australia. The 26/27 sees Will return to Wigmore Hall as well as performing at Leeds International Concert Season, Perth Concert Hall, and he continues his collaborations with John Wilson and Sinfonia of London and Kaleidoscope ensemble. Will has previously appeared at St. George’s Bristol, North Norfolk Music and Buxton International Festivals as well as Brighton Dome, Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, and at the Aldeburgh Festival where he was part of a stellar ensemble of YCAT artists past and present to celebrate the charity’s 40th anniversary in 2025.

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, Steven Isserlis, Thomas Adès, Wigmore Soloists, Castalian Quartet and Anthony Marwood 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. 

Soon after he started playing aged 7, Will was awarded a full scholarship to the Yehudi Menuhin School, and studied with Caroline Emery. He rose to prominence after reaching the Strings Category Final of 2018 BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition.  He went on to study at the Royal College of Music on a full ABRSM scholarship for his Bachelor's Degree, and continued there to complete his Masters with Distinction under the tutelage of Rodrigo Moro Martin. His studies were supported by the Drake Calleja Trust. 

As a soloist, he has appeared with the Horsham Symphony Orchestra, the European Youth Summer Music Symphony Orchestra and the Waverley Ensemble, and performing Ian Stephens’ double bass concerto ‘Scenes from a Modern War’ with the Kensington Chamber Orchestra in October 2024 and the Tubin Concerto with the RCM Symphony Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko in January 2025.. A purveyor of new music, Will has had several significant new works specially written for him, with further commissions in the planning. 

Will has also distinguished himself as a leading orchestral player, regularly performing with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Aurora Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London. As the principal bassist in many orchestral projects, he has worked closely with conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano and Sir Andrew Davis and has been the Principal bassist of the Royal Northern Sinfonia since 2025. 

He is also honoured to have been selected by the LSO Conservatoire Scholarship, LSO Scheme, the BBC Symphony Orchestral Scheme, Hattori Foundation 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.