Claire Parkin (violin)
Claire grew up in Bournemouth. She began her musical journey on the flute, gradually shifting her focus to the violin in her late teens, playing both instruments in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. She went on to study violin at the Royal College of Music, under Professor Dona Lee Croft. Claire has since built a busy freelance career, performing with several of the BBC orchestras and now regularly with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Bath Philharmonia. She is Principal Second Violin with Bampton Classical Opera and plays with a variety of other ensembles and orchestras. Alongside performing, Claire is passionate about teaching and is a violin teacher of long standing at Eton College.
Emma Chamberlain (cello)
Emma was a member of the contemporary chamber music group Double Image performing premieres of works by Judith Weir, Erika Fox and Nicola Lefanu (“ever-inventive and imaginative” - The Guardian). She completed her LRAM at the Royal Academy of Music and is a practising barrister. She plays in a number of Oxford and London chamber music ensembles including Fidelio Orchestra, Orchestra of St John and the Radcliffe Chamber Ensemble. Emma is a trustee of the London Music Fund, which funds free music lessons for primary school children, of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Civic Future.
Andrew Blankfield (piano)
Andrew is a pianist, conductor and occasional tenor. For many years he combined his various music pursuits with a career as a City lawyer. On the concert platform, he has performed all five of the Beethoven piano concertos with the London Lawyers’ Symphony Orchestra, and four of them with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of St Albans, most recently No. 5 "Emperor" in January 2025. His other chamber ensembles include, on occasion, the Blankfield Trio with his daughters Susie and Isabel. With baritone Rupert Pardoe he has been exploring English and German song repertoire. Andrew studies piano with Elizabeth Altman.