Anna Shuttleworth - Studying The Cello

Studying The Cello

In 1943, Shuttleworth went to study the cello at the Royal College of Music (RCM) as a scholar. There she learned with Ivor James and Harvey Philips. While at the RCM, Anna became a founding member of the Vivien Hind String Quartet, an ensemble that she played with for a number of years. After leaving the RCM her friend Joan Dickson organised for the cellist Enrico Mainardi to give lessons in London for which Anna took part. She also continued her studies with Franz Walter in Geneva.

Shortly after leaving college, Anna was invited to play at the Newbury Festival with the Newbury String Players, both in the orchestra and later as a soloist. This initiated a long friendship with the family of Gerald Finzi and their musical circle, including Ursula and Ralph Vaughan Williams. This period also witnessed a richly varied freelance career, playing in a number of festival orchestras, as a chamber musician and soloist. She was once affectionately referred to as “The Swellest Cellist” by Vaughan Williams.

In 1953, at the recommendation of the composer Herbert Howells, Anna entered for the Boise scholarship and in 1954 was awarded a substantial sum to further her cello studies. This she used to study with Mainardi in Salzburg and Rome, and with Pablo Casals in Zermatt and Prades.