Frederick John Thurston was an English clarinettist.

He gave the first performance of new works, including Arnold Bax’s Clarinet Sonata, Arthur Bliss’s Clarinet Quintet and Gerald Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto. Works dedicated to him include Malcolm Arnold’s Clarinet Concerto No 1, Iain Hamilton’s Three Nocturnes, Herbert Howells’s Clarinet Sonata, John Ireland’s Fantasy-Sonata, Gordon Jacob’s Clarinet Quintet, Elizabeth Maconchy’s Clarinet Concertino #1 and Alan Rawsthorne’s Clarinet Concerto.

He taught at the Royal College of Music from 1930 to 1953. In 1953 he married Thea King, one of his pupils, but died later the same year from lung cancer.