In memoriam: Rod Franks (1956-2014)

Roderick (Rod) Franks, London Symphony Orchestra trumpet section member since 1988, passed away after a serious car accident in Nottinghamshire on Sunday, July 20, 2014.

After twenty five years with the orchestra, playing principal trumpet for the last twenty-three, Franks recently stepped down from the principal position but continued with the orchestra.

Born in Shipley, West Yorkshire, in 1956, Franks began playing the cornet at the age of six. He played for three of England’s most famous brass bands: the Hammonds, Brighouse and Rastrick and Black Dyke Mills. Franks studied trumpet with Philip Jones, Maurice Murphy and John Dickenson at the Royal Northern College of Music. Near graduation at age 21, he was appointed principal trumpet of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra where he spent seven successful years before returning home to join the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble as  principal trumpet in 1984. He went on to be a founder member of the English Brass Ensemble and London Brass.

He joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1988 and, from 1990, shared the principal trumpet chair with his former trumpet tutor and great friend Maurice Murphy, before Murphy's retirement from the orchestra in 2007.

Passionate about the education of future generations of musicians,  Franks held a number of teaching posts and had been professor of trumpet at the Royal Northern College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Royal Academy of Music. He was also committed to many LSO Discovery projects, particularly the LSO Brass Academies.

Source: London Symphony Orchestra, http://lso.co.uk/rod_franks