Horn
Elspeth was born in 1980 and at the age of 9 began learning the horn with Simon de Souza. When she was 14 she was awarded a scholarship with the Berkshire Young Musicians Trust and at 17 made her London concerto debut at St. John’s, Smith Square. After leaving school she took up a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied with Richard Bissill, Hugh Seenan and Jeff Bryant.
During her time at the Guildhall she was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra with whom she toured Europe, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy. In her final year at the Guildhall she won the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers Brass Prize and upon graduating with a first class honours degree was awarded the Phillip Jones Brass Award. Whilst still a student, Elspeth worked with the London Symphony Orchestra and was on trial for principal horn with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
In October 2002 she was appointed principal horn with the CBSO and since then has performed with the orchestra in venues throughout the UK, Europe, USA and Japan. Elspeth is increasingly in demand as a soloist and chamber musician, both in the UK and abroad, performing with the CBSO, Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Swan, the Adderbury Ensemble, the Sinfonia of Birmingham, the Rhein-Main Classic Orchestra and Molto Musica Ensemble and is a member of Brass Explosion. In December 2008, Elspeth gave the UK premiere of the Elliot Carter Horn Concerto with the CBSO on the occasion of the composer’s 100th birthday!
Elspeth regularly guests with other top UK orchestras including the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and in July 2005 was a panel member for the Leeds Conductors’ Competition. In addition to her performing commitments, Elspeth has been a horn professor at Birmingham Conservatoire since September 2003, and has given masterclasses at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music and Junior Royal Academy.