Otto Hashmi
Otto is a recorder player and solo artist from London. His work carves a link between the western classical tradition and popular music on an instrument often maligned in both worlds. Described by the Early Music Shop as "[challenging] the role a recorder plays in an ensemble", he has made a name for himself on social media creating short-form content bringing the recorder and its music into new contexts, often utilising rare instruments such as Contrabass and eCorder.
His 2023 EP 'Music for the End Times' combined sounds of London's post-covid club scene with recorder harmonies inspired by early music. He performs widely as a soloist through UK and EU touring, including as recent support for acclaimed jazz musician Shabaka. As a session player he has recorded for projects in the UK, Germany, USA and beyond. As musical director and live musician in he has toured Europe and North America including performances at SXSW, Canadian Music Week, Tallinn Music Week.
He has performed for TV and film, including "Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light" (BBC, 2024) featuring both on soundtrack and as an actor. Other performances include performance and composition for "Foraging" (Jacobs Morgan Studio, 2024) for renaissance double recorder quartet, "Blackout bei Wellmanns" (ZDF, 2024), and "Kill Chain" (Amazon MGM, 2019) starring Nicholas Cage.
He is a member of the early music ensemble Londinium Consort, winners of the New Elizabethan Award 2024/25. The ensemble are proud recipients of a Grant Round 8 award from Continuo Foundation.
Otto is a Young Artist with the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Otto graduated with an MMus in Advanced Instrumental Studies from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2024, studying recorder with Ian Wilson and baroque oboe with Gail Hennesey. He was awarded a CRDip by the university for exceptional performance in his final recital "into the night..." which formed a narrative between the early English music of Purcell and Dowland, and contemporary British voices such as Anna Meredith, Brian Inglis, and These New Puritans.
He received his BA (Hons) Music from the University of Bristol where he focused on recorder performance, musicology with specialism in early music and African-American music, and studio composition, for which he received the university’s Studio Composition Prize upon graduation.