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John Kitchen, a long-serving former first violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has died. Born in Lancaster in 1938, he initially studied the violin with his father before going to the Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) where his teacher was Clifford Knowles. He was a contemporary of Rodney Friend. In 1957, after leaving the RMCM, John did National Service with The Band of the Grenadier Guards. At the age of 21 he became the youngest member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and in 1965 he was appointed by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), initially as sub-principal second violin before moving into the orchestra’s first violin section.
In September 1968, having been recommended to the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland (RTÉ) by violinist Hugh Maguire, John moved to Dublin as the orchestra’s leader. In 1971 he returned to the LSO before joining the LPO’s first violin section in 1973. He moved to the English Chamber Orchestra in 1977 before returning to the LPO’s first violin section in 1982 where he remained until his retirement in 2009, after which he concentrated on playing chamber music and teaching.