Lindsay Cooper

Lindsay Cooper
Lindsay Cooper with the Mike Westbrook Orchestra and The Cortège (1982)
Background information
Birth name	Lindsay Cooper
Born	(1951-03-03)3 March 1951 Hornsey, North London, England
Died	18 September 2013(2013-09-18) (aged 62) London, England
Genres	Avant-rock, experimental, free improvisation, contemporary classical
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Bassoon, oboe
Years active	1971–98
Labels	Recommended, Victo
Associated acts	Henry Cow, Comus, Feminist Improvising Group, News from Babel, David Thomas

Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians. She collaborated with a number of musicians, including Chris Cutler and Sally Potter, and co-founded the Feminist Improvising Group. She wrote scores for film and TV and a song cycle Oh Moscow which was performed live around the world in 1987. She also recorded a number of solo albums, including Rags (1980), The Gold Diggers (1983) and Music For Other Occasions (1986).

Cooper was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the late 1970s, but did not disclose it to the musical community until the late 1990s when her illness prevented her from performing live. In September 2013, Cooper died from the illness at the age of 62, 15 years after her retirement.

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.