John Harle (born 20 September 1956, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) is an English saxophonist, composer, conductor and record producer.John Harle, FGSM ARCM Hons, is a British saxophonist, composer, conductor and record producer. He is a prolific artist in many genres including classical, jazz and opera.Harle began his musical career as a clarinetist and served as solo clarinetist in the Band of the Coldstream Guards, winning the Cousins Memorial Medal at Kneller Hall (Royal Military School of Music) in 1975 as Best Army Musician. In 1978 he won a Foundation Scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied saxophone, clarinet and composition, winning the Dannreuther Prize and obtaining a final graduation mark of 100%. He won a French Government Scholarship for postgraduate study in Paris with Daniel Deffayet, Professor of Saxophone at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) the following year. In Paris, Harle worked with Luciano Berio on 'extended techniques' for alto saxophone, which culminated in Berio's Sequenza 1Xb for Alto Saxophone, which he premiered at Hans Werner Henze's Montepulciano Summer School in Italy the following year.\r \r He subsequently won music competitions at the Royal Overseas League, Greater London Arts Association, the Maisie Lewis Trust, the Worshipful Company of Musicians and The Park Lane Group.