Lesley Hatfield

Lesley Hatfield leads a varied musical life, combining her role as Leader of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with chamber music, solo playing and teaching. Her wide-ranging musical interests find her performing music from all eras and she has worked closely with many contemporary composers.

After graduating 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 Lesley’s musical life. She 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. She has been a regular invited performer at the International Musicians Seminar Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove since 1986.

She has appeared as guest Leader, soloist and director with many orchestras around the UK and in Europe, has recorded for Chandos and Naxos labels, and is regularly heard on BBC Radio 3.

Lesley is much in demand as a teacher, and she is actively involved as Patron of ‘Making Music, Changing Lives’, a Cardiff-based charity which seeks to transform the lives of children and the communities from which they come, through music and providing the opportunity to learn musical instruments. Recently she was appointed Trustee of the Albert and Eugenie Frost Trust.

Lesley is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Music and of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.