Teaching Staff
Meet the team!...
Chris Doggett
Head of Performance and Advanced Courses
Chris studied music at King's College Cambridge, studying composition with Robin Holloway. He then studied Cello at the Birmingham Conservatoire studying with John Todd and later with Natalia Pavlutskaya. Whilst at Birmingham he won a place on the CBSO scheme and came 2nd in the Sylvia Cleaver chamber music prize. He now teaches in the Bedfordshire area both privately and for local music services, conducting the Luton Youth Orchestra and heading the Saturday Music Centre. Chris plays with several local groups on a regular basis including regularly playing with Aylesbury Opera Group and performing the Elgar with the Luton Symphony Orchestra.
Lawrence Durkin
Head of Adult Courses
Lawrence Durkin was born in 1982 in Barnet, North London and began playing the cello at the age of 10. He made his concerto debut in 2003 performing Haydn's Concerto in C with the London Pro Arte Orchestra. Since then he has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the U.K. He completed his studies with Leonid Gorokhov at the Royal College of Music as a Scholar supported by the Constant and Kit Lambert Award, Jacqueline Ward Award and the Astor Award. He received First-Class Honours for his Undergraduate studies, also at the RCM, having studied with Melissa Phelps and Moray Welsh. He has performed in master-classes to Alexander Baillie, Steven Doane, Johannes Goritzki, Louise Hopkins and Richard Lester. Until 2009 Lawrence was the cellist in the Harpham String Quartet whose performing highlights included appearances at the Wigmore Hall, Fairfield Halls and Rachmaninov Hall, Moscow. They also gave recitals at the Harrogate International Festival, Stratford-on-Avon Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, King's Lynn Festival, Chichester Festival, Leeds Castle, Honiton Festival and other music societies in the UK. During his time with the quartet he worked regularly with other prestigious musicians including Emma Johnson, Janet Hilton, the Chilingirian Quartet and the Bochmann Quartet. In 2007 they were selected as Young Artists by the Park Lane Group and performed in the New Year Series 2008 at the Purcell Room. He now gives recitals with the Janos String Trio who recently performed at the Leeds International Chamber Music Series, St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh and St. James Piccadilly, London. Other highlights of his career to date have been when he was joined by former BBC Young Musician Mark Simpson during a concert of works by Mark-Anthony Turnage that was recorded and broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2008. During the previous year, he performed the Swan, the cello solo by Saint-Saens which accompanied the youngest of the Royal Ballet's principals, Marianela Nunez in her performance of the Dying Swan at the Grand Opera House in York. Lawrence currently teaches at St. Georges College in Surrey, Latymer School in Edmonton and Dame Alice Owens School in Hertfordshire. He is enormously passionate about teaching and encouraging players of all ages to discover and develop their own talent and musicianship.
Liz Parkin
Head of Intermediate Courses
Elizabeth first started learning the cello with Angela East and later with Rhuna Martin and Joan Dickson at the Purcell School where she was awarded a scholarship. She now divides her time between teaching around Oxfordshire, particularly for Oxfordshire Music Service, and performing. She has worked at Oxford Cello School since 1999.
Erin James
Head of Junior Course
Erin is a cellist, teacher and musicianship trainer. She was awarded an Associate Performance Diploma with London College of Music at the age of 17, after studying for 5 years with Anne Christine Smith from the Halle Orchestra. Erin then went on to study cello at Birmingham Conservatoire with Jill Heartfield & Catherine Ardagh-Walter of the CBSO, graduating in 2001. During her studies at the conservatoire, she was part of the Folk, Andean & Medieval music groups and even took Medieval Harp as her 2nd study instrument! As part of this wide & varied background, Erin performed in the guitar & cello duo 'Strings Attached' and the Folk-Pop band 'Banska', for many years. Erin recorded with several local artists & bands, and 'Banska' released 3 albums between 2002-07. Since 2009 life has been a balance between music and family. She now has two young children who themselves now play the cello and lever harp. Erin now plays with a local orchestra called 'Asklepios'. Erin is a cello teacher for Birmingham Music Service and organises regular concerts of her own pupils and runs a cello ensemble once a year which has included harp, double bass, keyboard and even bass guitar. Erin is a qualified Colourstrings Music Kindergarten Teacher and has also studied Kodaly and Dalcroze Eurythmics. She previously worked for the Midlands Arts Centre with 6 months to 7 year olds in the Colourstrings Musicainship training programme. Classes included: listening, singing, percussion, dance, movement & musical games. More recently she has adapted these skills to teach in Sunday Club (ages 2.5-5) and run preschool christian activity sessions teaching Bible stories through music, singing, dance, puppets and craft. Erin has run Dalcroze sessions and taught on the Junior Course at OCS since 2005 and been the Head of the Course since 2008.
Matthew Forbes
Matthew Forbes studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has since become a versatile and sought-after musician in many areas. He plays regularly with some of the UK's most prestigious ensembles including the Royal Opera House, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the BBC orchestras in London. He has been a soloist and chamber musician with many groups and has travelled extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and the Far East, as well as his work as a concert and recording artist in the UK. He also works as a composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, folk musician and jazz pianist. He led the 2015 schools composition programme for the London Symphony Orchestra, wrote a piece for 23 pianos for Loughborough Endowed Schools and a children's opera for the Birmingham Hippodrome as well as many pieces and arrangements for this course. His ceilidh band is a regular feature here and his annual junk-instrument samba band is not to be missed!
Gavin Kibble
Gavin joined the London Handel Players in 2022 as a cellist and viola da gamba player. Originally from Southampton, UK, he studied first at the University of Oxford (with Laurence Dreyfus) and then at the Royal Academy of Music (with Jonathan Manson and Joseph Crouch) before continuing his studies privately with Gerhart Darmstadt and Juan Manuel Quintana. Shortly after graduating, he took part in the orchestral academies of Ambronay, Aix-en-Provence and Saintes.
A frequent guest principal of the Academy of Ancient Music, Gavin is also a member of Solomons Knot baroque collective and is involved with many other ensembles including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Gabrieli Consort, the Sixteen, La Nuova Musica, the Dunedin Consort, I Fagiolini, Arcangelo, the Mozartists, La Serenissima and the Early Opera Company. For several years he was principal cellist of the Old Street Band, the period instrument orchestra associated with English Touring Opera. Further afield, he has been invited to play as guest continuo cellist at the Opera del Liceu in Barcelona, as well as with groups including Cappella Mediterranea, Vox Luminis and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Gavin also collaborates with the 'Newe Vialles', where he mostly plays tenor viol. He is an experienced practitioner of contemporary music and was recently involved in the creation of Clorinda Agonistes, a new piece by Kareem Roustom for the Shobana Jeyasingh dance company.
Foremost in Gavin’s arsenal of instruments are cellos by Arnaud Giral and Krzysztof Krupa, and a viola da gamba by Ester Passiatore. His bows are made by Hagen Schiffler, Eduardo Gorr, Richard Moser and Emilio Slaviero.
Gavin now lives in Hastings, on the South coast of the UK. He has a very wide range of musical interests and he is always on the lookout for new collaborators and experiences.
David Kadumukasa
David has studied the cello since the age of six. His post-school studies took him to the University of Manchester where studying under Bernard Gregor- Smith, of The Lindsay String Quartet, he performed Andrejz Panufnik cello concerto. After graduation David was offered a Leverhulme scholarship and a Countess of Munster award to undertake performance postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music where he studied with Leonid Gorokhov. Since completing his studies David has freelanced with a number of professional orchestras including Royal Philharmonic orchestra, RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and London Musici freelance orchestra. David has also recently appeared as soloist in a performance of Dvorak cello concerto.
Helen Downham
Helen began to play the 'cello at the age of eight with Doreen Cresswell in her home town of Sutton Coldfield. She subsequently went on to study with Catherine Ardagh-Walter of the CBSO and Bernard Gregor-Smith of the Lindsay String Quartet at the University of Manchester. Upon graduating in 2002, she received a Proctor-Gregg Performance Prize from the University. Following this, Helen gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Performance studying with Hannah Roberts at the Royal Northern College of Music. Helen has performed many concerti including the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Celli and Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme. Other concerto performances include Haydn's Cello Concerto in D major with the Orchestra of the Swan and the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No.1 with the Huntingdonshire Philharmonic Orchestra. Helen is a founding member of the Rivoli String Quartet which was formed in 1999 at the University of Manchester. Whilst continuing their studies at the RNCM they won prizes in several competitions. They were finalists in the 2006 Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Competition and also in 2006 won the Prix Ravel at the Academie Internationale de Musique, Maurice Ravel. The quartet were regular participants at IMS Prussia Cove and in 2007 they completed a Masters degree in String Quartet Performance at Sheffield University after studying intensively with Peter Cropper, leader of The Lindsays. Helen is a busy freelance cellist working in many genres. She performs regularly in the West End with shows such as Aladdin, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wind in the Willows and was previously the solo cellist for the national tour of Cameron Mackintosh's Oliver! as well as for ATG's national tour of West Side Story. She also performs with artists such as Sheridan Smith, Russell Watson, Chris de Burgh and Madness, often appearing on TV. Since 2013 she has been the principal cellist for Nevill Holt Opera. Her other orchestral experience includes working with the CBSO, Philharmonia and Manchester Camerata. Together with the first violinist from her quartet Helen gives regular concerts for the charity Music in Hospitals and she also actively raises funds for Macmillan Cancer Care by performing frequently with The Lydian String. When not playing or teaching the cello she enjoys sewing, baking, painting, walking and cycling.
George Wilkes
George Wilkes is a British Cellist currently studying at the Guildhall School in London in the class of Louise Hopkins. He studied prior to this with Josephine Knight at the Royal Academy of Music and Jeroen Reuling at the Conservatoire of Brussels. As a chamber musician and soloist he has performed throughout the Uk and Europe, receiving invitations to the Santander Festival in Spain, Nume Festival in Italy, the Schiermonnikoog Festival and Apeldoorn Festival in the Netherlands, and the HellensmusicFestival in the UK. It was at these festivals that he worked with prestigious musicians such as Misha Amory of the Brentano String Quartet, Bruno Delepelaire Principal Cellist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Maya Iwabuchi leader of the Scottish National Orchestra and Mihaela Martin soloist and professor at KronbergAcademy.
George has also had masterclasses with Frans Helmerson, Steven Isserlis and Gary Hoffman, and during the summer of 2023 he spent six weeks in the United States studying with Hans Jensen. George won the Third Prize at the Verão Classico Festival in Portugal and was awarded a grant by the Cooper Collection to study in Brussels and receives support from Help Musicians.
Hannah Monkhouse
Hannah studied at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, before moving to London to study with Melissa Phelps at the Royal College of Music. After graduating, Hannah continued her studies with Sue Lowe, as well as attending The Eton International Cello Course, where she had masterclasses with internationally acclaimed Cellists, such as Steven Doane, Johannes Goritzki, Alexander Balillie and Louise Hopkins. Since graduating, Hannah has performed regularly as a soloist, including in her own concert series, with regular performances in London and the Midlands. Recent solo recitals include a lunchtime concert at Christ Church Spitalfields. Following a busy and varied orchestral experience at The Royal College of Music, Hannah has worked with a number of professional orchestras, such as The Southbank Sinfonia and The New Professionals, including as Principal Cello in 2006. Venues have included The Queen Elizabeth Hall, St John's Smith Square, St Martin in the Fields and The Royal Opera House. Hannah has performed regularly with The New English Orchestra since 2007, often as Principal Cello. The New English Orchestra has recently performed in Rome and Salzburg and in recent UK venues including Birmingham Town Hall and Symphony Hall and Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. Hannah currently teaches individual Cello lessons at Streatham and Clapham High School Junior Department, which is part of the Girls' Day School Trust. Hannah has previously worked at Fulham Prep School and for Tower Hamlets Music Service, Lewisham Music Service and Barking and Dagenham Music Service, where she taught individuals and small groups in primary and secondary schools on a weekly basis. She taught on Saturday mornings at Deptford Music Centre for four years, where she assisted with orchestral rehearsals, as well as individual and group teaching. Hannah has led and assisted with whole class Cello and Violin teaching in primary and secondary schools with pupils as young as 5 years old.
Paul Cox
Paul first studied cello with Myra Chahin and Janet Tinbergen, and participated in master classes with Harro Ruijsenaas. He read Music at the University of East Anglia where, as part of the performers' course, he was able to further his cello studies in London with Christopher Bunting. After graduating, he was awarded a scholarship to Reading University, enabling him to complete a Master of Music degree in Performance Studies. Since then, he has given numerous concerto and recital performances and played in a wide variety of chamber groups. He has broadcast on the BBC, Independent Radio Network and Swiss Radio. He has recently recorded the works for cello and piano by Bortkiewicz. He is now Head of Strings at University of Southampton and is String Editor and Tutor for the Music Teaching in Professional Practice Course developed by Reading University and the Incorporated Society of Musicians. This is part of the International Centre for Research in Music Education. He is involved in conducting and has a particular interest in youth orchestra activities. In 1997 he set up the Eureka! Foundation and is now its Chairman. The Foundation provides an original way of supporting instrumental teaching and also promotes concerts and raises money for community groups. Recently, he was soloist in a performance of the Triple Concerto by Beethoven with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and, as cellist in the Franke Piano Quintet, he played in a major series of concerts at St John's Smith Square, London - a series which included the world premiere of the Quintet by Eduard Lalo.
Tristan Horne
Tristan is a versatile professional 'cellist, working in London. He has 25 years' playing experience, having studied both compositional techniques and classical 'cello performance. He has performed all over the world, playing a wide variety of styles, playing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and George Michael to name a few. as well as performing, tristan has been arranging and writing music for various projects, including numerous documentaries and adverts. he recently co-wrote a 10 minute track for a show before the champions league final in the kraftwerk building in berlin in 2015, including 3 live sopranos, dancers, arialists and drummers, which received great acclaim from both the live performers and the audience.Tristan's skill in composition allied to his love of all different genres of music has helped him develop into an accomplished string arranger as well as having a large pool of talented and skilled string playing colleagues he draws on for session work. His ethos with any session work is to engulf himself in the artist's music, understand where it is coming from, and enhance the music with the addition of live strings.
Helen Wright
Helen began playing the cello at the age of 6. During her school years she took lessons with Jean Fry and Martin Bochman and played in local orchestras and chamber groups, winning competitions locally and at the Conservatoire de Geneve. Helen studied for 3 years at the Royal College of Music under Anna Shuttleworth and Christopher Bunting, graduating with a teaching diploma. During the late 80's, early 90's Helen taught at the Oxford Cello School, running the Junior course, as well as teaching in schools and private pupils. More recently Helen has played with the City of Southampton orchestra and Romsey Chamber Orchestra.
Lisa Sumner
Lisa grew up in a musical family. Her mother was a piano teacher and she and her siblings all learnt instruments. She started the piano when she was 6 and cello when she was 10. Playing music together helped to foster a real love of chamber music. During these early years she discovered how much fun it can be to play music with family, friends and other musicians. She joined the Merseyside Youth Orchestra at 15. After leaving school she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London to study cello with Derek Simpson and piano with Graeme Humphrey. As a student she took part in masterclasses with the renowned cellist Lynn Harrell - both as a cellist and also as an accompanist. She was awarded LRAM teaching Diplomas on both instruments, an Honours Degree and a Certificate of Advanced Studies for a 4th year on the cello. She was also awarded the John Booth Prize. After leaving the RAM Lisa embarked on an extensive teaching career, initially in West London. She coached chamber groups and orchestras and taught in various schools - Bute House Preparatory School, St Paul’s Girls’ School, Putney High and Lady Eleanor Holles in Hampton. It was always her passion to get children to play music together from an early age. She directed her own Orchestral Courses primarily for juniors. She formed a Saturday Music School and these both became very popular. During this period she was also asked to coach on the Oxford Cello School and in time became Junior Course Director from 1997 - 2002.
Annette Cleary
Annette Cleary studied cello at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with Coral Bognuda, Ivan Andrews and Aisling Drury-Byrne. At the age of sixteen, she won an Arts Council grant to study with Antonio Janigro at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Other teachers included Andre Navarra, Paul Tortelier and Eleonore Schoenfeld. Annette studied at California State University, Fresno on scholarship, and graduated with a BA in music (magna cum laude). She then received a further scholarship to study at the University of Southern California, where she graduated with a Masters degree (magna cum laude).
While in the U.S., Annette was prizewinner of the Bell T. Richie Award, USC Leadership Award and the Los Angeles Young Artist’s Competition. She was also a recipient of numerous awards for academic work, including the President’s Prize, the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award and the National Collegiate Music Award. A German government grant (DAAD) enabled Annette to pursue postgraduate study at the Stuttgart Hochschule fűr Musik, where she graduated with a KA (Artistic Solo Degree).
Annette is a prizewinner of International competitions in Europe and the U.S. and has performed as soloist with many orchestras, including the Sűdwestfunk Orchester, RTE Concert Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. In 1989 she was the first Irish musician accepted to the prestigious Schleswig-Holstein International Orchestra which toured Europe and Russia with Leonard Bernstein.
Annette has performed solo recitals and television broadcasts internationally, including a Southern African tour and five tours of Japan. In Ireland she has performed at major festivals and venues such as West Cork Chamber Music at Bantry House, Music for Wexford, Airfield House, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Music Network tours and the Cork Celebrity Recital Series. Annette has acted as jury member for the Bucchi International Chamber Music Competitions in Rome and the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Croatia.
As Principal and Co-Principal cellist, Annette has worked with many orchestras and chamber groups including the RTE Concert Orchestra, D’Oyly Carte Opera, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Concorde and the Irish Piano Trio (with Dearbhla Collins and Michael D’Arcy). While based in the U.S. Annette played baroque cello as soloist with Los Angeles Musica Viva.
At present, Annette teaches cello and chamber music at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and gives annual master classes at Ceol-na-Mara Summer School for Strings in Connemara and conducts regular masterclasses in Italy, Austria (Vienna), Croatia and Germany. She plays as guest principal cellist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and performs recitals regularly in Ireland. In 2010 she attained a Doctorate in Music (contemporary Irish music for cello). Recently she recorded a CD Rich and Rare with Reamonn Keary (piano) and she is cellist with Degani Piano Trio www.deganitrio.com (Rachel Quinn and Alan Smale) and baroque/traditional ensemble Sonamus. www.sonamus.ie Both of these ensembles have toured widely and recorded numerous CDs.
Sam Weinstein
Sam Weinstein is a London-based cellist, teacher, conductor and researcher, increasingly in demand for his thoughtful musicianship. Since receiving his MMus with Distinction from the Royal College of Music in 2023, he has frequently been invited to work with several of the country's most prestigious orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, BBC Concert, and Philharmonia orchestras. His primary teachers were Melissa Phelps, Josephine Knight and Bozidar Vukotic. He is also sought after as a teacher of cello and music theory/musicianship, and as an orchestral trainer, having coached a number of amateur orchestras across London. Additionally, Sam worked as a research assistant with the AHRC-funded research project on Music, Migration and Mobility based at RCM, investigating the legacy of musicians who migrated to the UK from Nazi-ruled Europe. Previously he was awarded a first-class degree in Music from Pembroke College Cambridge, where he held an Instrumental Award. He plays on a fine English instrument from the early 19th century.