Rebecca Gilliver

Principal Cello

Member since 2001; Professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama

As a very stubborn four year old, I heard a cello in the Dorset Schools Orchestra and left the concert determined that that was what I was going to do. Pester power took about three years, but finally, late one night, I was called downstairs and there stood my godfather, who’d bought me a cello. I had a go right away, dressed in slippers and pyjamas!

Rebecca Gilliver studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal Northern College of Music, where her teachers included Melissa Phelps, Moray Welsh and Ralph Kirshbaum. She also spent a year studying mainly contemporary music with Thomas Demenga in Basel. Originally joining the LSO as Co-Principal in 2002, Rebecca became Principal in 2009. Rebecca has played extensively as a recitalist, including at the Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Weill Hall. As a chamber musician, Rebecca has played and recorded with major artists such as the Nash Ensemble, and is a regular participant at IMS Prussia Cove. A professor at the Guildhall, Rebecca has also given classes at the Royal Academy and Royal College, amongst others, and runs her own cello course, The Dorset Cello Classes. She is a regular coach at Alpinekammermusik and the Aboyne Cello Festival. Recently, Rebecca has formed a local music outreach initiative, Worlds End Music, bringing together her local community with professional musicians living in the area.