Profile: Siobhan Clough, violin
Third Year, Royal Academy of Music

We caught up with one of Orion’s rising stars to find out what it takes to be a young musician in London today

Hello Siobhan! When did you know you wanted to become a musician?
When I was four years old I watched my first concert, and knew that I wanted to be an orchestral violinist. The following year I started learning how to play the violin.

What’s the most difficult thing about being a young musician?
The hardest part about being a young musician in London is gaining as much experience as possible, whilst maintaining my studies and earning enough money to sustain living and studying in London. 

How has Orion Orchestra helped your progression?
Keeping a schedule, while working as much as possible to further my studies and orchestral experience outside of music college, can be hard. But the experience and people I have met - especially through performances with Orion - has given me invaluable opportunities to network with other like-minded musicians. The development of my orchestral training with Orion, and the advice I’ve received through playing with the orchestra, means that whenever an opportunity arises I have the skills and knowledge to work with anyone in a professional way. 

What have been your highlights playing with Orion Orchestra?
Performances with the Queen’s Guards at Wellington Barracks and Rick Wakeman, as well as performances in Royal Festival Hall for the charity event Night Under the Stars. Orion provides such rewarding concert opportunities which are always enjoyable, but give you the experience of different project environments that aren’t just your standard classical concert. 

What can you learn by playing in concerts that you can’t learn in college?
Every concert with Orion is completely different, allowing me to gain experience in different fields - such as opera scenes, film music repertoire, pop music and of course classical orchestral repertoire. When studying in music college, these projects are less frequent, and include week-long rehearsal schedules. With Orion, the rehearsal time is shorter – preparing us as performers for life after music college, whilst providing us with opportunities to work with musicians currently working in the industry. This allows us to engage with performers such as Tom Poster, Guy Johnston and Nicholas Daniel, all of whom have been incredibly rewarding to work with, making it feel like the end goal isn’t so far away.

What are you looking forward to in 2018? 
In 2018, I’m very much looking forward to being a performer with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Change Makers scheme, whilst continuing my studies alongside orchestral projects outside of music college – including the Alpha and Omega concert series with Orion.