Lesley Hatfield
Violin
Lesley Hatfield leads a distinguished and varied musical life, combining her position as Leader of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with chamber music, solo playing and teaching. After graduating with First Class Honours from Clare College, Cambridge, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music. During her early career, as a chamber musician and member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, she worked with Sandor Vegh and Nicholas Harnoncourt, both of whom had a lasting influence on her musical approach. She was co-Leader of the Northern Sinfonia and Leader of the Ulster Orchestra before taking up her current position.
Chamber music has always been an important part of her musical life. Lesley is a member of the highly acclaimed Gaudier Ensemble and is regularly invited to participate as a guest in a wide range of ensembles and chamber music festivals, also collaborating with pianists such as Ian Brown, Alasdair Beatson and Huw Watkins. Participation in the International Musicians' Seminar at Prussia Cove has become a fixture in her diary.
She has appeared as soloist and director with many orchestras around the UK, recorded for Chandos and Naxos labels, and is regularly heard on BBC Radio 3.
She is an enthusiastic exponent of contemporary music and has had a number of pieces written for her, including John Casken's 'Apres in Silence' which she performed in the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra. She is much in demand as a teacher, and has a busy schedule of students at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In 2008 she was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.