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The virtuoso trumpet playing of Sweden's HÃ¥kan Hardenberger has inspired many new works for the instrument. Hardenberger has a large recording catalog and is generally regarded as one of the world's leading trumpeters.

Hardenberger was born in Malmö, Sweden, on October 27, 1961. He began studying the trumpet there with Bo Nilsson when he was eight and worked with him for some years before moving to France for further studies at the Conservatoire de Paris with Pierre Thibaud, and then to Los Angeles for work with Thomas Stevens. Very early on, Hardenberger conceived the ambition of becoming a world-class trumpet virtuoso, and after a stint in the Swedish military's music brigade, he launched his professional career. His recording career began in 1985 on the BIS label with The Virtuoso Trumpet, an album of 20th century works on which he was accompanied by pianist Roland Pöntinen. Hardenberger soon signed with the Philips label and released several albums of standard trumpet repertory, which he has performed frequently, but he showed a strong commitment to contemporary music from early in his career.

Hardenberger has commissioned new works from a wide variety of contemporary composers, working in many different styles. These include Hans Werner Henze, Arvo Pärt, Toru Takemitsu, Sally Beamish, and Harrison Birtwistle, as well as a large number of Scandinavian composers. He has especially been associated with composer Heinz Karl Gruber, whose work Aerial (1999) he has performed more than 60 times. Hardenberger has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, as well as in a variety of chamber music ensembles. Between concerts, he teaches trumpet at the University of Malmö. Hardenberger recorded for Decca, Ondine, Dacapo, and other labels, but he has had an ongoing relationship with BIS, where he released the album French Trumpet Concertos in 2022. By that time, his recording catalog comprised some 30 items. ~ James Manheim

John Constable studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Harold Craxton. His career began at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, where he worked on the music staff. Since 1984, he has served as the principal harpsichordist for the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and the principal pianist for the London Sinfonietta, Britain's leading contemporary music ensemble, since its founding. He has performed as a soloist under the batons of such conductors as Simon Rattle, Hans Werner Henze, David Atherton, and Oliver Knussen. He has performed as continuo harpsichordist for recordings of Mozart operas with Colin Davis, Neville Marriner, Simon Rattle, and Georg Solti. With soprano Lucy Shelton, he gave the world premiere of Elliott Carter's Of Challenge and of Love at the Aldeburgh Festival. Constable has performed recitals at the BBC's New British Music and Lutoslawski weekends at the Barbican and the American Independents Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. In 2000, he was a soloist in the Boulez at 75 Festival and in 2001 at the BBC's Schnittke Festival at the Barbican. In 1998, he performed the Elliott Carter Double Concerto with the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and with the ASKO Ensemble at the Concertgebouw. Constable has made numerous recordings of chamber music and song repertoire for Argo, Decca, EMI, Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hänssler, and Capriccio. These include a disc of music for viola and piano with Paul Silverthorne, a selection of Liszt songs with Philip Langridge, a collection of Warlock songs with Adrian Thompson and Christopher Maltman, Fauré and Ravel songs with Felicity Palmer, Haydn Lieder with Dame Janet Baker, and A Spanish Songbook with Jill Gomez. He is a frequent collaborator with Lucy Shelton, with whom he has recorded Messiaen's Harawi and the complete songs of Elliott Carter and Stravinsky. Constable is a professor at the Royal College of Music, London, and a Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music.

Iona Brown, violinist and conductor, was best known for her work with chamber orchestras. Her family was a highly musical one, and she was encouraged to explore her talents from a young age. She joined the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in 1955, remaining with it for five years. She was then sent to the Continent to study; her teachers were Hugh Maguire in London, Remy Principe in Rome, and Henryk Szeryng in Paris and Nice. She also studied music in Vienna and Brussels.

While also working in the Philharmonia Orchestra (1963-1966), Brown joined the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 1964 as a violinist and quickly developed an interest in conducting. She made her debut as conductor of a Proms concert in 1965, appearing regularly with the Academy ever since. In 1974 Marriner decreased the time he spend with the Academy, naming Brown as artistic director. Since then she has often conducted the Academy in concert and on a large number of recordings, primarily on the Philips label. In 1981 she also became artistic and music director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. She brought it into the front rank of international rank chamber ensembles; in 1987 she received an appointment as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She conducted many of the world's major symphony orchestras, including the Saint Louis Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (of which she was guest director from 1985 to 1989). In 1996 she was appointed chief conductor of the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a violinist, she recorded Bartók's Second Violin Concerto and David Blake's violin concerto, which was written for her. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1986 and the Knight of First Class Order of Merit of Norway in 1991.