The idea for the Lyons Chamber Players started years ago when I was playing principal horn with the Zagreb Philharmonic in Croatia. During that time I was asked to play some concerts and radio broadcasts with, i Solisti di Zagreb.  This group used 13 strings and had an international reputation. It was led from the concertmaster chair by Tanko Ninic.  

i Solisti's technical and artistic standards were unbelievable.  Vibratos were completely unified, the intonation was so good you could hear overtones, and they quickly changed tempos with only the slightest gesture from the concert master.  Working with them was like riding in a Ferrari with a great driver.  

I decided I wanted to create a similar group, and I noticed that the original Wagner, “Siegfried Idyll”, also used 13 musicians. Wagner's mix of strings, winds, and brass created a great variety of tone colors and allowed for two horns; my instrument.