King, Thea (1925-2007)

English clarinettist. She studied at the Royal College of Music, London and from was principal clarinettist of the London Mozart Players 1956-64. She moved to the English Chamber Orchestra in 1964 and until 1968 was a member of the all-female Portia ensemble. She gave the first performances of works by Howells, Ireland, Humphrey Searle, and Rawsthorne, and was associated with the modern revival of interest in the music of the 19th-century Finnish clarinettist and composer Bernhard Crusell.