Lindsay Cooper - Biography

Biography

Lindsay Cooper was born in Hornsey, North London. She began piano lessons at the age of 11, but switched to bassoon a few years later. Between 1965 and 1968 she studied classical music and bassoon at the Dartington College of Arts and the Royal College of Music. She played in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. Towards the end of the 1960s she lived in New York City for a year, during which time she became involved in music projects outside classical music.

When Cooper returned to the United Kingdom in 1971 she left classical music and became a part of the Canterbury scene. She joined the progressive rock band Comus, and although she only remained with the band for a year, it changed her whole approach to music. She added oboe and flute to her instrument repertoire, and started doing session work for other musicians, including Mike Oldfield on his album Hergest Ridge (1974). A common misconception here is that she also performed on Oldfield's Tubular Bells (1973), but it was her namesake Lindsay L. Cooper who played double bass. Then, during a theatre project, Cooper encountered Henry Cow, an avant-rock group that would later launch her musical career on the world stage.