Gillian Thoday

Biography

Strings Section: Cello, Strings Section: String Chamber Music Coaches Gillian Thoday is a musician of stature both as a player and teacher. Her solo work has included appearances at all the major recital venues in London with first performances of works written for her and broadcasts for the BBC both on radio and television. Her work with chamber ensembles has been extensive, particularly in the contemporary field with radio broadcasts, CD recordings and tours in England, Europe and the United States. In the orchestral field she has worked with most of the major orchestras in London including the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, London Symphony and BBC symphony orchestras, and the English Chamber Orchestra, London Mozart Players and Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields. She has been invited to work as guest principal cellist with the City of London Sinfonia, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, English Festival and London Festival orchestras, Radio Orchestra of Dublin and the Brussels Opera House where she was subsequently offered the position of co-principal cellist. As a studio player she has contributed to the sound tracks of many of the major films of recent years. Gillian has taught the cello for many years at both the Junior Guildhall and at Chethams School of Music with many of her pupils winning scholarships to the senior colleges and now finding their own place in the music profession. She brings to her teaching the benefits of her years of study at the Royal Academy of Music with Florence Hooton and in Germany with André Navarra, one of the greatest cellists of his day, together with the fruits of her own etensive experience as a performer and teacher. Her aproach combines a strong emphasis on technical schooling with a recognition of the need always to nurture the individual voice of each pupil. She aims to give her pupils the technical, musical and organisational skills to ultimately become their own teachers.