London orchestra stalwart dies at 87 Orchestrasnorman lebrecht September 22, 2025We’re saddened to hear that John Kitchen is no longer with us. The youngest violinist in the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1959, John moved on to two spells with the LSO, thirty years with the London Philharmonic and a coda with the English Chamber Orchestra. He retired around his 50th anniversary in 2009.