10 Facts About Alan Hacker

Alan Ray Hacker was an English clarinettist, conductor, and music professor.

Alan Hacker was born in Dorking, Surrey in 1938, the son of Kenneth and Sybil Hacker.

Alan Hacker became a professor of the Royal Academy of Music in 1960 and went on to found the Pierrot Players in 1965 along with American pianist Stephen Pruslin and Harrison Birtwistle.

In 1972, the Pierrot Players renamed themselves the Fires of London, and Hacker continued to perform with them until 1976.

Alan Hacker was appointed chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Arts Music section and of the British section of the International Society for Contemporary Music.

Alan Hacker was one of those credited with reviving the basset clarinet, and in 1967, he restored the original text of Mozart's Concerto and Quintet.

Alan Hacker played them on an instrument modelled on that for which Mozart originally wrote them, the Stadler's extended basset clarinet.

Alan Hacker founded the Music Party in 1972, an organisation set up for the authentic performance of classical music.

Alan Hacker branched out into conducting opera, where he led performances of works from Monteverdi's Ulisse to Birtwistle's The Io Passion.

Alan Hacker was awarded the OBE for his services to music in 1988.