My friend Edmund Reid, who has died aged 85, was a violinist with a number of orchestras across his long career, including the London Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic, and was principal violinist at the Welsh National Opera and then the English National Opera. He stands out as a black man who made it to the top of the European classical music scene.
Edmund was born in Jamaica, where he was raised by his Aunt Doris. He fell in love with the violin at an early age and gave his first recital at eight. Attending Kingston College secondary school, at 16 he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he also studied under the violinist Sascha Lasserson.
