Sean Gilde studied with Christopher Bunting and at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Ulrich Heinen, where graduated with a BA (Hons) Degree and the ABSM Performance and ABSM Recital Diplomas. As well as continuing his studies with William Conway, he was a founding member of the Astaria and Almira String Quartets and in that capacity has given recitals at many of the UK's major Concert Halls, including the Purcell Room, St Johns' Smith Square and Symphony Hall Birmingham.
Residencies and Special Projects with the Almira Quartet have included the Ryedale Festival and the UK premiere of C. H. Parry's Third String Quartet, which was broadcast ‘as live’ from the Three Choirs Festival. As well as having played with Mid-Wales Opera as section leaders, the Almira Quartet also took part in competitions in Italy and Germany as well as master-classes with Sigmund Nissel, Malcolm Layfield and the Chillingirian and Coull Quartets.
As a chamber musician, Sean has performed at Festivals, for Music Societies and has also broadcast live for Classic FM (Almira Quartet) and BBC Radio 4 (Astaria Quartet). As a quartet player, as well as working for the Council for Music in Hospitals and Live Music Now! Sean has toured regularly including Scotland for Enterprise Music Scotland, the Argyll and Bute Concert Tours and by invitation, for the National Federation of Music Societies Music Club circuit.
Sean has presented workshops and lecture-recitals for Arts Alive, the City of Edinburgh Music School and the Education Department at Symphony Hall Birmingham, often to National Curriculum and National Lottery specifications.
Through an interest in contemporary music, Sean has taken part in the UK premieres of quartet-commissions by Andrew Downes, Colin Touchin and Richard Lee-Harris and has worked with composers at the Birmingham Conservatoire through an Association with the Composition Faculty. He also gave the UK premiere of ‘Imago’ for solo ‘cello by F. M. Beyer as part of a touring exhibition of the Blackboard Drawings by R. Steiner.
Most recently Sean has performed in projects with Darkin Dance, most notably ‘Parabolic’ for the Brunel 200 Celebrations in Bristol and ‘Up Close’, a UK contemporary dance tour for Dance South West.
As a freelance musician, Sean has played for amongst others the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Longborough Festival Opera Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. He is Head of Strings at the Dragon School in Oxford and has regular invitations to teach on the Fantasia Music School. Sean plays on a French 'cello by Collin-Mezin from 1902.
