Meet The Staff

Sarah grew up in Greater Manchester and was a student at Chetham’s School of Music. She went on to study clarinet at the Royal College of Music where she won the Henri Selmer Paris Clarinet Prize and the Stephen Trier Bass Clarinet Award. She was supported by the Anne Driver and Neil Vint Trusts and received a Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Trust award.

Her orchestral work includes projects with The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The London Concert Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Orchestra of the Swan, Brandenburg Sinfonia, KZN Philharmonic (South Africa), Opera de Baugé (France.) She has been a session musician for Brit Award winner Duffy on Radio One’s Live Lounge, Steve Harley at the Royal Albert Hall and Pink Floyd Symphonic Live at the O2 Arena. She has performed recitals with her duo partner Amy Wakefield for Buxton Opera House Arts, Georgian Theatre Royal, Royal Academy of Arts and for Cunard on the Queen Victoria and Queen Mary. They have travelled all over the world performing recitals on cruise ships including the Caribbean, Brazil, Asia and Australia.

Sarah is an instrumental teacher and ensemble coach at Tiffin School and St Paul’s Boys' School. She has taken part in outreach projects with the LPO, London Sinfonietta, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Live Music Now and NCS ‘The Challenge’. She is also the woodwind coach for National Orchestra for All.

A harpist with a passion for the history and lore of the instrument, Alex Rider is much in demand for a wealth of projects both at home and abroad. With interests encompassing period performance to the newest music, recent highlights of Alex’s work include: orchestral work  with the BBC Concert Orchestra, The London Concert Orchestra, The Ballet Rambert, the Aurora Orchestra,  the Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique (at the BBC Proms and at the Berlioz Festival, France),  as guest principal of the Opera of Kristiansund(Norway) performances as a member of Multi-Story Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta academy; solo recitals for the Canterbury, Deal and Stogumber Festivals; Solo concerti in Brighton and Norwich; numerous broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, including of Takemitsu’s chamber music (as part of the BBC total immersion series); travelling to the Banff centre, Canada, to play for the Canadian premiere of Britten’s opera Owen Wingrave; the world premieres of solo works by Robert Saxton and Simon Holt (at London’s Milton Court), and two consecutive summers performing with the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra (Germany).

Whilst in Germany Alex made several acclaimed chamber appearances playing works by Mendelssohn, Hoffman and Ravel. During regular trips to Norway, he has also appeared playing Debussy’s Danses, chamber works by Ravel and Jolivet and broadcast on Norwegian radio. 

Alex studied under the harp Gabriella Dall’Olio and Frances Kelly, and was then a scholarship student of Imogen Barford at the Guildhall school of Music and Drama, where he graduated with distinction, and was subsequently honoured with a Guildhall Artists’ fellowship.  Active in the United Kingdom Harp association, Alex currently edits their magazine, HARP.

Kath is a freelance violinist based in North London. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with distinction in 2020, and was awarded the Sir John Barbirolli prize. She previously studied at the University of Southampton, where she graduated with first class honours, the Peter Evans prize, and first place in the John Ireland competition (2017).

Her teachers include Sophie Langdon, Nicolette Moonen, and Caroline Balding. As a chamber musician, she has been mentored by Jon Thorne (Oculi Ensemble) and John Myerscough (Doric String Quartet) as a part of the selective ‘ASSET’ fast track chamber music scheme at the RAM. Kath has performed in masterclasses with Simon James, Charles Stewart, Dag Anders Eriksen, and the Navarra Quartet, and in 2019 was selected to participate in a mentorship programme at the RAM with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kath enjoys working with a variety of ensembles and styles, including the London Musical Theatre Orchestra (making her West End debut in December 2020), Bampton Opera, CHROMA ensemble, the Muswell Quartet, an electronics and violin duo, són, and contemporary music group OUT-TAKE. She recently performed Bruch’s concerto for violin and viola with Watford Youth Sinfonia, and other recent performances include Tete-a-Tete festival, St John’s Smith Square, Dominion Theatre, BBC radio 3’s ‘in tune’, Union Chapel, and the BBC Proms.

Passionate about sharing the joy of music with everyone, Kath is a founding member of Street Orchestra Live, an orchestra dedicated to bringing classical music to everyone, everywhere. They regularly tour the UK sharing music from Beethoven to Snoop Dogg, in venues ranging from schools to prisons to IKEA. Kath is also a dedicated music educator, leading violin classes, string ensembles, and workshops with hundreds of children all over London.

David started playing the trombone at the age of 9 when given his grandfather's old instrument. He very quickly learned to cope with making a sound and joined a local brass band near Swindon. On the advice of the composer David Gow, he auditioned successfully at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he went on to study the trombone with Sidney Langston and Harold Nash. 

On leaving the Academy in 1976 David freelanced in London, playing with all the major orchestras, performing on film soundtracks and recording for radio and TV including, recently, for the the latest Wallace and Gromit adventure. As well as working with the English Brass Ensemble, his chamber music experience has included playing with Lontano,the London Sinfonietta, Matrix Ensemble, Music Projects-London and many others. David has worked in over 47 different countries, including the USA, India, Malaysia, Korea and even Burma! Solo work has included recording the David Gow Concertino for Trombone & Orchestra with the BBC Concert Orchestra for BBC Radio 3. The Concertino was originally written for him with Concert Band accompaniment.

David is currently Principal Trombone with English National Opera working at the London Coliseum. Along with his playing career David also teaches for the Junior Department at the Royal Academy of Music, the University of Surrey, Charterhouse School, Reigate Grammar and is a coach for various courses including the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain and, since 2011, Thames Youth Orchestra.

After his undergraduate studies in Mathematics, Will remained at the University of Bristol to complete a postgraduate degree in Music. During his time at university he got involved in conducting – initially with the Brass Band, before conducting the auditioned Chamber Orchestra for a year. Will was musical director of two productions with the university’s Operatic Society – Bernstein’s Candide and Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe – and conducted Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with LoveOpera. He has been the rehearsal pianist for several other shows, including Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, and he also accompanied undergraduates’ recitals, performance exams, and masterclasses.

Will is also an active brass player, having played extensively in Bristol and now London. He plays horn and trombone for amateur orchestras, big bands, and pop groups, including a brief stint in an acoustic-dubstep band.

Currently, Will is a Teacher of Music at Surbiton High School, where he contributes widely to the co-curricular programme in addition to teaching GCSE and A-level Music.