Where are you from?
Canterbury – which is where, as a boy in the ‘90s, I first saw and heard Northern Ballet. I danced from the age of four until I was eighteen (mainly ballet) and I always loved seeing and being inspired by the company’s performances at the Marlowe Theatre.
When did you start playing for Northern Ballet Sinfonia?
I first played with the ‘band’ in 2016 and then joined as a member in the middle of 2017.
Favourite Northern Ballet production?
The Great Gatsby: what a wonderful score! It’s by the extraordinary musical polymath Richard Rodney Bennett, who was able to write (and excel) in any and every musical style, which one hears in this ballet. And from the little I can see of the production, it looks completely enthralling on stage, too.
Favourite composer to play?
Bach!
Favourite music to listen to?
95% classical; 3% jazz; and 2% 80's pop.
Thomas Hancox enjoys complete technical control, his phrasing is awesome, his tonal quality in all registers is beguiling and he communicates informatively and humorously with his admirers.The Westmorland Gazette
Thomas Hancox is both co-principal flute of Britten Sinfonia and principal flute of Northern Ballet. He also works regularly as guest principal flute for other orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, English National Opera, and the English Chamber Orchestra, amongst others.
Solo and chamber work has led to collaborations with artists and ensembles including the Allegri, Castalian, and Sacconi string quartets, Haffner Ensemble, Trevor Pinnock, Stephen Hough, and Jeremy Denk, with recitals in prestigious venues and festivals throughout the country and further afield.
Dedicated to bringing music to all, Thomas is Chief Executive of CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust, a charity that introduces and makes available chamber music to young people.
Thomas read Music at St Peter’s College, Oxford, from where he graduated with a first, before pursuing further studies in Paris with Patrick Gallois, and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Music with Paul Edmund-Davies and Samuel Coles, finishing with a distinction and the honorary DipRAM.
In 2019 he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
...special mention for the flautist Thomas Hancox’s exquisite BachThe Times