Juliet McCarthy

Originally from Bristol, Juliet studied at Guildhall with American ‘cellist Leonard Stein and upon graduating spent the first 15 years of her career working as a pit musician working in London’s West End and on tour in the UK. Her favourite show to play is West Side Story which she was lucky enough to spend two years working on.

Since returning to Bristol in 2000 she has enjoyed a very varied career spanning most musical genres. She has been principal ‘cello with the Bristol Ensemble, The National Symphony Orchestra, Southern Sinfonia, The British Sinfonietta, The British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, The Welsh Musical Theatre Orchestra, Swansea City Opera, Cardiff City Voices and many others. Since 1996 she has regularly played with the piano trio in the Pump Room in Bath and also still  plays in musical theatre productions including the last major tour of Phantom of the Opera. She has also played for The Bristol Jazz Festival and with 90s band McAlmont and Butler.

As a recording musician Juliet has played on numerous scores for film and television including The Third Day, a recent production for Sky/HBO starring Jude Law and Naomi Harris. She has played on sessions at (among many others) Abbey Road, Real World and Rockfield, famous for being where Bohemian Rhapsody was recorded.

Juliet also teaches at three independent schools in Bristol including Clifton College where she went as maternity cover for a term in 2002 and hasn’t left yet! Once a year she is asked to spend a day at Oxford Cello School giving masterclasses to the adult performers.