Cellos
Heather Broadbent (principal cello) was born in Huddersfield and began learning the cello at the age of five. She
emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 12 where she gained a distinction in her
grade 8 and won a single study scholarship to study the cello at Auckland
University. During this time Heather was recognised as a ‘high scorer’ and won the prestigious ‘Westpac’ Chamber music competition. She also appeared on TV in a progamme about New
Zealand’s Young Performers.
Heather returned to the UK and continued her studies at the Royal Scottish
Academy of Music and Drama. She was given a beautiful ‘Vuillaume’ cello and studied with Mark Bailey and Rudi De Groote. She participated in
masterclasses with Robert Cohen, Raphael Wallfisch and Tsyoshi Tsutsumi and was
nominated to participate in the Manchester Cello Festival held at the RNCM.
During this visit, Heather met Rostropovich, Janos Starker, Mischa Maisky and
many more inspirational figures in the cello world. Heather performed Bloch’s
Schelomo with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Saint Saens’ Cello Concerto with the Yorkshire Youth Orchestra during a tour of Italy.
In 2005 Heather continued her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music
under Bernard Gregor Smith. She was given an English Cello by the renowned
luthier Simon Forster. She continued to play chamber music and wrote a thesis
on Student’s views of having multiple teachers at Music College. She became interested in Alexander Technique and attended a course in
Andalusia in Spain where she performed as soloist and chamber musician
alongside her teacher. The years that followed combined a teaching career and
Orchestral playing. Heather was a regular player with the Orchestra of Opera
North and she continued her solo playing at a variety of music festivals and
societies across the North West.
After completing a PGCE in 2011, Heather embarked on a teaching career and
worked as a music teacher in both primary and secondary education. She built up
an ensemble of young female cellists The Cellisters at one of her schools and has always been an advocate for the subject of Music,
its importance within the curriculum and its range of developmental benefits.
Despite a change of career focus, Heather has always remained a keen performer
and enjoys nothing more than experiencing the magic that happens when live
music is experienced. As a musician, Heather enjoys sharing this experience
with others and providing opportunities that go beyond the scope of the concert
hall and offering it to as many diverse groups as possible.
The cello first appeared in the sixteenth century but its importance dates from
the seventeenth century when composers started to use it in a continuo role to
support the bass line. As its importance grew, composers from the eighteenth
century onwards have contributed to the instrument's repertoire, and the
concertos by Haydn, Dvorak and Elgar have achieved enormous popularity.
Outstanding soloists in recent years have included Jacqueline du Pre, Pablo
Casals, Paul Tortlelier and Mstislav Rostropovitch.
Cellos are roughly twice the size of violins, so to play a cello under the chin
in the style of a violinist requires a player at least 11ft (3.5m) in height.
As such players are very rare in Cheshire, England (though the problem may be
less acute in America, where most things seem to be on a larger scale), the
Alderley Edge cellists invariably adopt the more familiar posture whereby the
cello is played the other way up, supported by a short adjustable spike at the
tailpiece end of the instrument.
These spikes are viewed with some alarm by those who rent out concert halls; and
with good reason, as they can all too readily leave behind evidence of 'a good
hard play' in the form of a neatly bored hole in the hitherto immaculate
concert platform. The thoughtful cellist will therefore bring along his or her
tiny piece of portable floor, which can be anchored to the chair for the
duration of the concert.