Where were you born and brought up?
London, but I always travelled a lot to the continent, as my father had been at school in Switzerland.

What is your earliest musical memory?
Hearing an older girl play the cello at a school concert. I went home and said I wanted to play. My mother asked about the teacher and I said 'she is about your age'. She was most amused when she later discovered that the teacher was actually 80!

At what age did you start playing the cello?
I started playing at the age of 9.

Where and with whom did you study?
My first teacher was a pupil of Julius Klengel, whose teaching room I visited when we were on tour recently in Leipzig. Then with Derek Simpson (RAM) and then later with André Navarra in Vienna.

When did you join the London Philharmonic Orchestra?
I joined as sub-principal Cello (No.3) in 1979 and became an Associate Member when I had my children.

How often do you practice?
Most weekdays. Not Sundays unless I have something urgent to work for.

What is the most joyous or appealing thing about your instrument?
One can convey many different moods on the cello - sadness, poignancy, passion, happiness and rouguishness, and the singing tone can be a source of great joy.

What is the most frustrating thing about your instrument?
Having to carry it around !

Which musicians do you enjoy listening to?
Sadly many of my heros are no longer alive, such as Tortelier, Navarra and Fournier, but I can listen to their CDs. I enjoy listening to chamber musicians.

What are your interests outside music?
I love to travel, garden, read books, go to the theatre and spend time with my family. Also exploring neglected works for cello and piano by 19th and 20th century women composers.

What is your favourite book/film?
A favourite and influential book is Simone de Beauvoir's Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, which I read as a student living in Austria.

What has been the highlight of your LPO career so far?
It is hard to think of one highlight. Recently working on the Beethoven Symphonies with Eschenbach was a milestone as was Porgy and Bess with Simon Rattle, La Traviata with Haitink, Mahler Symphonies with Tennstedt and Clifford Curzon playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor K491.

What is your favourite piece of music?
It depends on what I am working on. The Beethoven Sonatas and Variations for cello and piano are wonderful and at the moment I am finding Rebecca Clarke's cello music very beautiful.

What is the worst thing that can happen during a performance?
Breaking a string. I was once playing 2nd solo cello in Ariadne conducted by Simon Rattle at Glyndebourne. My string broke the page before an important solo and the next desk of cellos were miles away with different music. In the darkness of the pit I had to put on a new string, tune it and be in time to play the solo, with Simon looking very worried. I achieved it just in time!

What is your most valued possession?
My cello, as children and husband are not 'possessions'.


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