Edinburgh Royal Mile Chamber Music Series - The Harris Quartet

St Giles Cathedral plays host to the inaugural Edinburgh Royal Mile Chamber Music Series. This exciting and prestigious new programme of concerts will feature an exceptional selection of chamber music throughout 2024, covering classical and romantic masterpieces from Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Haydn and more

Featuring a lineup of outstanding UK and international artists, these concerts will be an unrivalled opportunity to enjoy some of the world's greatest chamber music in the stunning candlelit venue of St Giles Cathedral. With it's newly installed Steinway Grand Piano, this will be a musical experience to remember! St Giles is situated in the heart of the Royal Mile with many bars and restaurants nearby to complete your evening.

Featuring
The Harris String Quartet
Emma Donald - Violin
Serena Whitmarsh - Violin
Eilidh Randall - Viola
Katy Bell - Cello.

Programme
Haydn - String Quartet Op 76 no. 1 (G major)
Mendelssohn - String Quartet no. 1

Originally from the Highlands, Emma Donald has been playing the violin since the age of 8. Growing up, she enjoyed learning both classical and traditional Scottish music, and has strived to keep both passions running simultaneously. She has a first class honour degree in music from the University of Edinburgh, and she works full time as a freelance musician based in Glasgow. Under the writing name Emma Jean, she has had her original compositions performed by the Fyrish String Quartet and co-wrote the music for “The Farewell Glacier”, a performance of Nick Drake’s poetry about climate change, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in February 2024.

Serena Whitmarsh is a Scottish violinist, originally from Glasgow. She studied her bachelors with Yossi Zivoni at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and completed a Masters in performance in 2021 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Daniel Pioro and Joseph Swensen. Serena has a life-long love for chamber music, especially quartet playing and enjoys a busy career freelancing in scotland. She performs regularly with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Ballet Orchestra and has just performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Glasgow Sinfonia in November 2024.

Originally from Fife, where her love of music began, Eilidh Randall commenced her performance studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where she played alongside the BBC SSO, RSNO and the Scottish Opera orchestra. She went on to receive a scholarship for further postgraduate study from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where she found her passion for chamber music. Now based back in Scotland, Eilidh enjoys a varied freelance career as a chamber and orchestral musician, working across the UK in orchestras such as Scottish Opera, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra and Opera North.

Katy Bell grew up in Glasgow before studying cello in London and then in Cincinnati, Ohio with Yehuda Hanani. She then lived and worked in The Netherlands and in Inverness before moving back to her hometown of Glasgow in 2020. She joined Live Music Now Scotland in 2024 as an Emerging Artist and now performs all over Scotland as a chamber musician, soloist and orchestral freelancer.