Louise Hopkins studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Steven Isserlis and Raphael Wallfisch. From the age of 15 she attended the International Musicians' Seminars at Prussia Cove for a period of several years studying intensively with Andras Schiff for Duo class and Gyorgy Kurtag for Chamber Music alongside the Cello Masterclasses with Isserlis and kirshbaum. 

Louise made her debut at the Barbican Hall playing Witold Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto with the composer conducting of which The Times commented that ‘players with such personality agility and power are rare' and The Independent that ‘within minutes Hopkins had exorcised the spirit of Mistislav Rostropovitch’. At this time she won the NFMS, Southeast Arts and Park Lane Group young artist awards resulting in numerous recitals throughout the UK. Louise also won the Frank Britton Award which resulted in her first solo appearance at the Wigmore Hall quickly followed for several years in succession with concerts at the Wigmore supported by the Tillet and KIrkman Trusts. She has continued to perform regularly at the Wigmore both as a soloist and chamber musician to this day and has developed an international career which has taken her all over Europe the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. 

A regular participant at major festivals Louise has been on several occasions to Aldeburgh where she has performed chamber music and solo concerts including a performance of Britten’s Cello Symphony for a BBC live broadcast 37 years to the day of the first performance of the work at Snape Maltings with Leonard Slatkin conducting and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Other festivals include Cheltenham, Bath, Brighton, Harrogate, the Vertavo Quartet’s festival at Elverum in Norway, Dijon, the Belgrade Cello Festival , Salon de Provence and the Irish Chamber Orchestra's summer festival 2007 where she performed Tavener's  "The Protecting Veil".

Louise has regularly attended Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove for over 20 years and will participate in the 2008 tour culminating at the Wigmore Hall. Louise has broadcast frequently on the BBC, RTE, Swiss Romande, New Zealand Radio and Radio France to name but a few. In 2006 London Sinfonietta chose to release as part of its Jerwood Foundation series a CD of a BBC recording of the piece for Cello and Orchestra by Dai Fujikura Fifth Station with Martyn Brabbins conducting and Hopkins as the soloist taken from a live performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The Times reviewed the CD as "brilliantly played".

As a chamber musician Louise has performed in venues from the Wigmore Hall to the Sydney Opera House. She has been the guest on several occasions of the Takacs Quartet and also Thomas Ades with whom she has recorded his piano quartet Catch for EMI. She has also been invited by Emmanuel Pahud (principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic) to perform at the Wigmore and also at his festival. Other collaborations have included those with Andras Keller, Anthony Marwood, Ferenz Rados, Denes Varjon, Aleksandar Madzar, Sasha Melnikov, Piers Lane, and Steven Kovacevich. At the invitation of Piers Lane, Louise participated in the foremost chamber music festival in Australia in 2009. Louise performs regularly with the pianist Aleksandar Madzar with whom she has recorded a recital disc for Intim Musik of sonatas by Schnittke, Carter and Rachmaninoff. 

At the age of 25 Louise was one of the youngest ever professors to be appointed to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She also began teaching at the Yehudi Menuhin School, a relationship which continued until 2006. Louise has recently been appointed Head of Strings at the Guildhall and maintains there a high level award winning class. She has given masterclasses in France, Germany, Switzerland, Serbia and throughout the UK and in September 2007 began as a Cello Professor at the Hochschule in Bern Switzerland.