Andrew Sparling is a member of the ensembles Lontano, Apartment House, Ensemble Exposé and Double Image, and principal clarinettist of Almeida Opera and New Kent Opera.  He has played guest principal clarinet with the Philharmonia, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta.

He has given recitals with the pianist Thalia Myers in venues from St Helier to Ho Chi Minh City, and has played quintets with the Brindisi, English  and Lyric String Quartets; he has also toured for the British Council in Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.  He made his concerto debut at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia in May 2000.

He has recently released a CD of contemporary solo and chamber music on NMC, and a further disc is due for release on Metier later this year. He also performs on period instruments, and he has appeared in two BBC TV drama-documentary series: The Genius of Mozart , in which he also acted the role of clarinettist Anton Stadler, and The Genius of Beethoven, shown on BBC2 earlier this year.

Andrew has already appeared several times at the Festival.