Neill Sanders grew up in a musical family. At the age of 16 he was already on a tour with the tenor
Richard Tauber. At 18 he played principal
horn in the
London Symphony Orchestra for a short time. After the war he was principal horn again with the orchestra and also with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He played second horn in the
Philharmonia Orchestra for seven years with
Dennis Brain. They both appeared with The London Wind Players in a Cambridge Summer Festival in 1950. They also were members of the London Baroque Ensemble, founded and conducted by
Karl Haas, and recorded among others Serenades by
Dvorak (1951) and
Mozart (1952), Sonatinas for Wind Instruments by
C.P.E. Bach, a Partita by
Dittersdorf and music by Haydn and Gounod in 1953. The two horn players were featured in a lecture recital on "The Early Horn" on the
BBC in 1955.
Francis Poulenc wrote an
Elégie for Brain, first performed by Neill Sanders with Poulenc at the piano, in a BBC broadcast on 17 February 1958.
Melos Ensemble Neill Sanders was a founding member of the Melos Ensemble in 1950 and played with them for 29 years. They participated in premières of numerous works by
Benjamin Britten including the
War Requiem. The composer conducted the Melos Ensemble in the first performance in
Coventry in 1962 and also in the first recording in 1963. Neill was a personal friend of Britten's and played principal horn for the
Aldeburgh Festival, taking part in the premiere and first recordings of the
church parables,
Curlew River,
The Burning Fiery Furnace and
The Prodigal Son.
Neill Sanders Mouthpiece He designed a special wide, slightly concave
mouthpiece for the instrument, to spread the pressure and to increase endurance. Known as the "Neill Sanders Mouthpiece" or the "Neill Sanders Rim", it was produced into the late 1980s and is still in demand.
Teaching in London and Michigan In London he taught many students who became principal horn players. In 1970 he was appointed Professor for Horn at
Western Michigan University in
Kalamazoo, Michigan. He also taught as guest professor at
Michigan State University.
Fontana Chamber Arts Neill Sanders returned to London every year to play, especially to continue his part in the Melos Ensemble, until 1979. Then he founded a similar large chamber ensemble in Michigan, the
Fontana Ensemble, consisting of a string quintet, a wind quintet, and piano. In 1980 he founded the
Fontana Concert Society, and in 1980 six concerts were performed at a first summer festival. He was its Executive and artistic director until his death. In 1993 composer Mark Schultz wrote
Podunk Lake for Amplified Horn Solo for the Fontana Festival in memory of Neill Sanders. The
Neill Sanders Endowment for New Music Fund in the Kalamazoo Community Foundation bears his name. == Recordings ==