Natalie Clein
Grand final
British cellist Natalie Clein has built a distinguished career, regularly performing at major venues and with orchestras worldwide. Her performances have taken her to orchestras including the Philharmonia, Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ National Orchestra of Wales, Montreal Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, New Zealand Symphony and Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires. She has performed with conductors including Sir Mark Elder, Sir Roger Norrington, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Leonard Slatkin, Stéphane Denève and Heinrich Schiff.
She is an exclusive recording artist for Hyperion and has recorded the two Cello Concertos by Camille Saint-Saëns as well as Bloch’s Schelomo and Bruch’s Kol Nidrei with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Scottish Symphony Orchestra to great critical acclaim. Natalie is a keen recital and chamber performer and the proud artistic director of her own chamber music festival in Purbeck, Dorset. She regularly works with contemporary composers and has also curated and been involved in cross-disciplinary projects with the dancer Carlos Acosta, writer Jeanette Winterson and director Deborah Warner amongst others.
Born in the United Kingdom, Natalie came to widespread attention at the age of 16 when she won both the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Young Musician of the Year and the Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians. As a student she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth the queen Mother Scholarship by the Royal College of Music. She completed her studies with Heinrich Schiff in Vienna. Natalie is a Professor at the Royal College of Music and in 2015, was appointed Artist in Residence and Director of Musical Performance at Oxford University for four years. She plays the ‘Simpson’ Guadagnini cello of 1777.