Here are a few lines on some of our players

Romana Bevington

I started violin aged 9, inspired by my aunt, violinist in Dexys Midnight Runners. I quickly developed a love of orchestral playing, though the local county Saturday morning and holiday schemes.  I discovered the viola when I was 15, whose timbre and more physical requirements were like rocket fuel for practice and progress, leading to more…

Katrina Darke

I started playing the violin at the age of 8. I have always loved orchestral playing, and in my 20s did this professionally. I then retrained and became a doctor, returning to the violin as an amateur a few years ago. more…

 

Peter Evans

I was a comparatively late starter in music: at secondary school I was so fortunate to have a wonderfully inspirational teacher who helped me to discover for myself the inexhaustible treasure that is music. I went on to study music at university and my subsequent musical career has included teaching, improvisation, composition, jazz, folk music, and of course, classical music performance. more…

Lucy Beveridge

I started playing the flute aged seven, playing in school bands in Bath and Bristol and realised I particularly enjoyed soaring above the other instruments on the piccolo! I went away to music college and returned to Bristol to deliver music education and perform. I enjoy listening to music, but being part of an orchestra such as BHCO is so exhilarating. more…

Jeff Stanford

I’ve been playing the violin since the age of 8. I studied Russian and French, and later did a postgraduate year of violin study with Richard Ireland. I’ve played in many different orchestras including the Ecuadorian National Symphony Orchestra, the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, the Nord Deutsche Orchesterakademie. Highlights in my playing life: more…

Katie McConochie

I started the piano when I was 7,  the violin when I was 8 and the harp when I was 9.  I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to play harp or violin when I was in youth orchestra, so I kept on with both of them.  Each instrument brings different challenges.  As a harpist you are very much on your own – you have to count like made and concentrate like crazy.  Maybe that’s why more…

John Lang

I reluctantly started cello lessons at the age of 10 when playing football had much greater appeal. I was given my current cello two years later when it was obtained by my father in exchange for a ten pound piano tuning job; sixty five years later it is still my my regular instrument. Performing with my father and two brothers became my introduction to Chamber music. more…

Kay Marshall

I am principal second violin, and have played with BHCO since 1999. I am a recently retired GP, having latterly worked in inner city Cardiff for nearly 25 years (receiving an MBE in 2011 for services to healthcare and homeless people).  I  grew up in a musical family in Nottingham;  more…

 

Barbara McConochie

I am Principal Oboe in the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra. I started learning the oboe at 11 and studied at Royal Academy of Music. After a spell working back in Scotland, I began freelance playing and teaching the oboe in Lancashire. From the orchestra’s inception in 1987 I regularly made the journey to Bristol to play, becoming a Bristolian myself in 2003. The range of musical experiences that bhco has allowed me to enjoy has been both enriching and fulfilling; more…

Kerry Edwards

I grew up in Kent and started  playing the violin aged ten. I swiftly moved on to the viola, as it was deemed more suitable for a tall girl like me!   My teenage years were happily spent with the Kent County Youth Orchestra, playing a varied repertoire and touring in Europe, the USA and Brazil.

When I came to study Dentistry at Bristol University in the late 1980s, I was more…

Ed Kluz

Being the tallest kid in the year at school I was enthusiastically encouraged to take up the double bass aged 11. Throughout my teens I played with various residential youth orchestras based in the North of England where I grew up. This gave me a valuable grounding in orchestral playing and of course the social side of being a musician. In fact many long lasting friendships were made at this time – one particular friend from these early years also performs with Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra. more…