Rachael Bucknall, cello lead

Rachael started playing the cello aged twelve, and three years later joined Kent Youth Orchestra. She graduated from Trinity College London with first class honours in 1985, where she studied cello with Gwyneth George, Alexander Baillie, and Sidney Griller, and piano with Patricia Holmes. During her time at Trinity, Rachael co-founded the Sterling Quartet, with whom she performed at concert halls including St Martin’s in the Fields and St. George’s Brandon Hill, as well as taking part in the 1988 Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition. Her quartet playing has also taken her to locations such as The Ritz, Blenheim Palace, and Highclere Castle.

Since graduating, Rachael’s career has been varied; from freelancing with the London Philharmonic, English String Orchestra, and D’Oyly Carte, to touring in the support band for Blur and appearing on ITV as part of ‘This Morning’ with Richard and Judy. She has worked in Trinity College Exams Department as a PA to the Chief Examiner of Music, where her duties included training examiners, writing syllabuses, and marking music theory papers. Since having two children, Rachael has focused on one-to-one tuition, as well as several years of classroom teaching.

Rachael joined the Ealing Symphony Orchestra in 1998 and was leading the cello section a few years later. She is passionate about exploring the vast repertoire of music for cello ensembles, playing a local group as well as the cellos of ESO, who for the past eighteen years have enjoyed regular weekends of music making on the Isle of Wight.

Rachael has played an English cello dated 1760 for 34 years and is very grateful to Jonathan Beecher for his amazing work in fine-tuning it so that it resonates so beautifully, making it a joy to play.