Claire Taylor

Claire was awarded a place at St Mary's Music School, Edinburgh in 1987 to study with Warren Jacobs. She went on to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now RCS) in Glasgow, gaining a postgraduate scholarship to study with Clio Gould. She performed concerti with the symphony orchestra at the RSAMD and also with the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra in the Queens Hall. Claire was also a student at the Britten-Pears school in Snape Maltings, taking part in several orchestral courses and later being invited, along with her string quartet, to take part in a week-long course of masterclasses given by the Amadeus Quartet. After graduating she worked around the country with BBC NOW, Welsh National Opera and Scottish Ballet, as well as touring internationally with Glaswegian indie band Belle and Sebastian. She now lives in rural Dumfries and Galloway and was a member of the reformed Manchester band King of the Slums, joining them to play their first live gig in 27 years at Manchester's legendary Night and Day Cafe. Further gigs followed, and Claire collaborated and performed on two albums and various EPs which the band produced between 2017 and 2020, until the premature death of frontman Charlie Keigher from cancer in 2021. Claire is now focusing on viola and would ideally like to link up with other string players in Glasgow and west Scotland to play chamber music.