King, Thea

She studied at the Royal College of Music with Arthur Alexander as a pianist, choosing the clarinet as her second instrument. However, the influence of clarinet educator Frederick Thurston was so great that King gradually reoriented to the clarinet, assisted Thurston in his class, and in January 1953 , less than a year before Thurston died of cancer, she married him and never again got married.

Tea King as a performer preferred various kinds of chamber compositions. In 1953 she was in the first composition of the ensemble of wind instruments “Portia Wind Ensemble”, founded by Ruth Jeeps , and performed in it for 13 years. In 1955 - 1973 she played in the chamber orchestra “ London Mozart Players ” works, as the name implies, of the Mozart era. In 1964 , King took the place of the first clarinet in the English Chamber Orchestra and continued to participate in the orchestra's performances until 1999. At the same time, King performed many works by contemporary British composers. King didn’t leave the piano completely: for example, in 2001 at the memorial concert for her husband’s centenary, she accompanied the clarinetists, and among the recordings made by King for the BBC , there is a unique one: Felix Mendelssohn's concerto piece (op.114) for clarinet, bassethorn and piano in which King performs all three parts.

In 1961 - 1987 King taught at the Royal College of Music, and since 1988 at the Guildhall School of Music and Theater . Among the students of King - almost all the leading clarinetists in the UK.

• Obituary in the Independent newspaper