The Lochrian Ensemble was formed in 1991 by four university and music college graduates.  Twenty years on our current line up includes two of the founding members (Catherine and Nerissa) as well as Alison (Catherine’s sister) and Matthew – both of whom joined over ten years ago.

Over the years we have been coached by, and performed with, Andrew Shulman (former cellist of The Britten Quartet) and Bruno Schrecker (former cellist of The Allegri Quartet).  Bruno Schrecker describes us as ‘… my favourite string quartet in the West.  They play with sensitivity, thoughtfulness and passion.’

We perform nationwide and have played at over 250 venues.  We enjoy a wide variety of engagements ranging from festival concerts to social functions, radio (Radio 3, Classic FM, Radio 4’s Sunday Worship) television (Songs of Praise) and film recordings (The Ghost of Greville Lodge).

We have a keen interest in women’s music and also enjoy working with contemporary composers. We have recorded the complete string quartets of English composer Mark Springer to critical acclaim – ‘The Lochrian Ensemble play them beautifully’ (BBC Music Magazine 2004).  We are currently recording a second CD of Mark Springer’s string quartets due to be released in autumn 2011.

We have also collaborated with the English composer Colin Bayliss in the production of a double CD of his complete string quartets (New Century Classics 2008).  The last quartet in the collection, in ‘locrian mode’, he dedicated to us.  The recordings have been described as capturing ‘vivacious and nuanced music-making with apt vitality…. Anyone who has any interest in the string quartet in the twentieth century has no choice – they must hear these impressive works.’ (Rob Barnett – Music web international)

We also enjoy performing works from the popular, jazz and world music genres. We have featured on a number of albums including guitarist Jim Ramsey (2004), and the well received Destinos by Cuban band Asere (2004). We particularly enjoyed this collaboration and the album received fantastic reviews:  Time Out ‘An album that will blow you away’, Mojo ‘Musicianship worthy of praise’, The Guardian ‘There’s plenty of art in making music sound effortless’.

We welcome the opportunity to work with other musicians to form both larger and smaller chamber groups.  We perform a wide variety of repertoire from the chamber music genre as well as accompanying choral works, musicals and operatic productions.  Our most recent collaborations include work with the City of Bristol Choir and Exultate Singers.

We have a series of recordings to our  name including And I Saw A New Heaven (Hoxa 1999), Lochrian Lollipops (Hoxa 2001), String Quartets Nos 1-6 Springer (2004), Complete String Quartets of Colin Bayliss (New Century Classics 2008), Destinos (Astar and Real World Records 2005).