Peter Wilson

Born in North Yorkshire, England, into a musical family, Peter was surrounded and influenced by music from an early age.

Peter started the cello aged 7 and soon enjoyed success playing with a string quartet which included his older brother playing 1st violin. They reached the ‘National Chamber music Competition for Schools’ finals, three years in succession, culminating in performances in St. John’s, Smith Square. This inspired him to develop his playing further and he went to study with Sue Lowe and Anna Shuttleworth.

Peter went on to study with Anna Shuttleworth at the Royal College of Music an received lessons from Alexander Baillie and Amanda Truelove. Peter was awarded a First for his final recital performance and went on to study a PGDip at the RCM, supported by a Leverhulme postgraduate studentship, with Leonid Gorokhov as his teacher. During his time at the RCM, Peter won the Anna Shuttleworth Competition for Unaccompanied Cello and was presented with the Leo Stern award. He has played in masterclasses given by Steven Isserlis and William Pleeth.

Peter has worked with many orchestras, including trials in Britain and those abroad. This year he has worked regularly with the RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the Longborough Festival opera orchestra in England on productions of Tristan and Isolde and Rigoletto.

Peter has a diverse range of performing experience. He most recently performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company on the production of Hecuba. He has previously played cello for many productions such as White Devil and Shoemaker’s Holiday.

Peter is regularly asked to record solo cello for radio, film and television. Most recently Peter was asked by Academy-award winning film score composer Steven Price to record solo cello for a new project. As a solo cellist he has also recorded the music for the play This Isn't Romance which was broadcasted on BBC Radio 3. Peter has recorded solo cello on feature films. His last film, called ‘F’, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and is on general release DVD. His solo cello playing can be heard on a BBC1 documentary called Caught in the Crossfire.

Peter is looking forward to playing regularly with the SSO this year!