Robbie Stanley-Smith

Robbie Stanley-Smith began learning cello at the age of three with the Suzuki method, and in 2005 gained the Margaret Swan Memorial Prize for Grade 8, awarded annually for the highest mark in the country (143). By December 2007 he had achieved distinctions in both the dipABRSM and LRSM performance diplomas. Under the guidance of Helen Verney in Kingston, he has since performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Kingston Chamber Orchestra, the Walton Cello Concerto with CUMS I (the principal orchestra of Cambridge University Musical Society) and Dvořak’s Cello Concerto with CUSO (Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra). Chamber music, however, is his preferred medium, having studied many of the great chamber works at Pro Corda, the National School for Young Chamber Music Players, which he attended between the ages of 11 and 18. In September 2009 he performed Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht at Wigmore Hall as part of a Pro Corda gala concert, and he has participated in the Haydn, Leeds, RNCM and Oxford chamber music festivals, whilst holding an Instrumental Award from Cambridge University. Robbie was principal cello of CUCO (Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra) for two years and in 2011-12 attended the Conservatorio Superior de Música in Murcia, Spain, constituting the third year of his course in Spanish and Latin at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Since graduating, Robbie has participated in various orchestral projects including Multi-Story, the London Mahler Orchestra and the Outcry Ensemble.