Leon King is a musician and teacher with over twenty five years experience as a professional freelance orchestral player in the UK. He studied with Rudolph Botta in Manchester and Roger Best of the Alberni Quartet in London before winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he continued his studies with Stephen Shingles, the principal violist of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. At the RAM he also studied chamber music under the renowned quartet leader Sidney Griller and composition w
After graduating, Leon worked as a freelance player with a wide range of British orchestras including the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. He also began to take an interest in period instrument performance, studying with Jan Schlapp. He was soon working with a number of period instrument orchestras including the Hanover Band, the Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and is an experienced specialist in period performance practice.
Through his work as a performer with period instrument ensembles Leon developed an interest in playing the viola d’amore and this has led to his editing eighteenth century music written for the instrument, much of it previously unpublished. In 2001 he founded a publishing business, Quall Publications , devoted to this repertoire. His catalogue includes an Urtext edition of the complete works for viola d’amore by Vivaldi as well as works by Telemann, Graupner, Ariosti and Pezold.