Clara Hope Simpson is a creative and versatile cellist who is passionate about both performance and teaching. She has performed as a soloist in venues including Wigmore Hall, Stoller Hall, and Kodak Hall. She won the Barbirolli Cello Prize and the Musicales Prize at the RNCM, as well as the cello concerto competition at the Eastman School of Music. Clara has been awarded the Exceptional Global Talent Visa from Arts Council England. As cellist of the Aestus Quartet, she won the Weil Prize for Chamber Music and participated in Chamber Studio UK’s Hans Keller Forum. She has been principal cellist of numerous ensembles, collaborated with composers including Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Anna Clyne, attended chamber festivals across North America and England, and performed with groups including the Elias Quartet, Manchester Collective, and Manchester Camerata. Clara has studied Dalcroze and pedagogy and has taught cello extensively. She has led community workshops for festivals including Lymm Chamber Music and the Lake District Summer Music Festival.

Clara holds a Master of Performance from the RNCM, a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music, a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the University of Rochester, and entrepreneurial training from the Institute for Music Leadership. She is forever grateful for the support of her primary teachers: Hannah Roberts, Steven Doane, Rosemary Elliott, and Mara Finkelstein.

Clara plays a circa 1860 German Cello on generous loan from the Carlsen Cello Foundation and is grateful for the support of the Dorothy Stone Award.