Joe Pritchard started playing the cello aged 6 with Louise Padday. When he was 11, he gained a place as a music specialist at Wells Cathedral School and studied with Richard May and Penny Driver. Then aged 13, he was awarded a place at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School, where he studies with Thomas Carroll. Joe spent 5 years in the National Childrens Orchestras (NCO) of Great Britain, performing in celebrated venues such as Leeds Town Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and De Montford Hall in Leicester. Continuing his passion of orchestral music, in October 2014 Joe was offered a place in the National Youth Orchestra (NYO) of Great Britain, with whom he has had the oppurtunity to play huge orchestral repertoire under conductors like John Wilson, Ilan Volkov and Sir Mark Elder, in venues such as the Barbican, Sage Gateshead, the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. Joe has appeared twice in NYO at the BBC Proms, firstly in 2014 under the baton of Edward Gardner, and secondly in 2015, in a performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. Joe regularly performs in the Menuhin Hall. With a quartet from the Yehudi Menuhin School, he has performed for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in November 2014 as part of the WW1 Memorial services at Wellington Barracks. In March 2016, Joe competed in the Strings Category Finals of the BBC Young Musician 2016, and performed works by Bach, Debussy and Sollima. Joe currently plays on an 1821 cello by Sebastian Klotz, a maker in the legendary German 'Mittenwald' school.