We all owe a debt of gratitude to Patricia Rozario and Dirk Campbell for filling [Winchester] Cathedral with their utterly beautiful sound.

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Lady Tavener

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Dirk's work on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was invaluable and added the perfect geographical colour which is essential for the palette of an ethnic score.

 

Patrick Doyle (Oscar nominations, Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility)

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Dirk has a unique bag of tricks that bring something very special to a project. The (nyatiti and filimbi) solos he played on The Last King of Scotland gave a wonderful sense of colour.

 

Alex Heffes (BAFTA nomination: Tsunami;

Last King of Scotland, Escape Plan, State of Play, Queen of Katwe)

 

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A very BIG thank you for all your fantastic duduk playing on The Passion. Everyone loved your playing, and it added a huge amount to the score.

 

Debbie Wiseman (RTSA winner: Warriors;

Father Brown, Vampire Killers, Wilde, Wolf Hall)

 

 

 

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I am at Air-Edel mixing the music [for Agora]. Your beautiful playing features throughout the score almost in every piece. Sounds really wonderful, everyone has commented on the duduk playing, and I wanted to thank you again for the sensitive and very musical playing you have done.

 

Dario Marianelli (Oscar winner: Atonement;

Kubo and the Two Strings, V for Vendetta)

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Whenever I have a score to write that deals with middle Eastern or historical subjects I think of Dirk Campbell for duduk and ney. Dirk's keyed duduk and his mastery of the instrument makes sessions easy and short. His expressive powers on both instruments please my clients every time.

 

Glenn Keiles (BAFTA and EMMY nominations: Think About It, Seven Wonders of the World, Millennium)

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Dirk is one of the only musicians in this country that not only has immense instrumental knowledge and performance versatility but has a mastery of such highly sought after instruments as duduk and ney. He has a wealth of experience which fuels both inspired improvisations and also ornamented phrasing and interpretation of scored parts. From my experiences of working with him films are transformed whenever these highly evocative instruments are introduced into the score.

 

David Poore (Life in the Undergrowth, Africa, Springwatch, The Natural World, Big Cat Week)

 

Dirk has contributed some wonderful performances on many of my recent scores. His fantastic duduk playing can be heard in my music for the BBC series Nile and the BBC series Miracles of Jesus. He also played ney, sorna and East African lyre on these scores and was very helpful in explaining which keys work best for these instruments so that I could integrate them into a standard western orchestra. My music for the popular BBC Natural World film Eagle Island also features Dirk, this time on uilleann pipes and Celtic whistles – again with great style and feel.

 

David Mitcham (AWFA winner, Danger in Tiger Paradise)

 

Dirk was a great find for me in 1998 when he performed the title theme for my score to Last Run, a spy thriller set in Eastern Europe. The score received excellent reviews and I had taken a risk using an unusual and relatively unknown instrument such as the duduk, which had to sit comfortably over an orchestra. His performance and interpretation of the theme, with added embellishments, was beautiful to listen to, original and moving. Dirk played duduk again on my score for Modigliani which also received good reviews, not least from Music from the Movies who voted the score in their overall top five for 2005. Duduk is becoming more used these days by many composers, especially for film, but I do believe Dirk Campbell has expended many years crafting his playing technique and talent to perform with creativity and authenticity. I am sure we will work on many projects now and in the future, especially where rare and unusual wind instruments are needed.

 

Guy Farley (Sorted, Last Run, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Citizen Verdict, The Wake of Death)

 

 

'Listening to that makes me believe I am actually a composer.'

 

Award-winning Swedish composer Adam Nordén on hearing Dirk Campbell play his duduk cues for Zozo (selected to represent Sweden at the Annual Academy Awards: 3 wins, 5 nominations)