Rachel Gledhill

Biography

Rachel was born in Yorkshire and began her musical life in the Brass Band world, and at age 15 was the first woman to be invited to join the Hammonds Sauce Works Brass Band.

She went on to study at the Royal College of Music and in 1998 Rachel won the silver medal in the Shell LSO competition. After freelancing with a wide variety of orchestras and ensembles including ballet, opera, chamber and West End, she joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992 and became Principal Percussion two years later.

Whilst at the LPO, in addition to working with many of the great conductors on the concert platform and at Glyndebourne Opera, Rachel enjoyed inspiring collaborations with some leading jazz artists such as Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Ray Brown and Kenny Wheeler. She has also been involved in numerous recordings for feature films including Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

In 2011 Rachel was appointed Section Principal Percussion with the Royal Opera House.

Rachel is also a keen composer and has recently been invited to write for the ABRSM percussion syllabus.