One of our Finalists in the ERSO Soloist of the Year competition is a familiar face as she is ERSO’s Principal Cellist . Currently a fellow with Southbank Sinfonia, Jennifer Sturt finds the most enjoyable projects to be in small or chamber ensembles and with current composers, where collaboration and teamwork is essential to realising new and exciting artistic directions.
At Trinity Laban Conservatoire she obtained a first-class Bachelor of Music with honours, whilst focusing on diverse repertoire with her teacher Naomi Butterworth. Highlights include joining the Smith Quartet for a performance of Steve Reich’s triple quartet, performing in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with the conductor Jonathan Tilbrook, and leading the Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra as the principal cellist at Cadogan Hall in a performance of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. These efforts, along with many more, gained her the silver medal award for outstanding contribution to the strings department.
During her Master of Music Studies at the Royal Academy of Music, Jennifer continued her search for ‘off-canon’ repertoire and composer collaboration. Specifically, she delved into a research project exploring the musical canon, asking the thought-provoking question: “What has the Canon ever done for us?” This endeavour involved examining overlooked and forgotten repertoire, dissecting conscious and unconscious biases in our critical judgments and listening habits, and evaluating current practices in music education and concert programming.
Born in East Sussex to a very musical family, Jennifer has been playing the cello since 2001. In her spare time she enjoys yoga, role-playing games and opera.
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