Elspeth Hanson (born 12 May 1986) is the violist of the all female

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

Biography

Hanson was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and was educated at Theale Green Community School and the

School of St Helen and St Katharine St Helen & St Katharine is an independent girls' day school, located in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. History St Helen's School, Abingdon was founded in 1903 by the Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) to provide a Christian education for girls. ...

Abingdon, Oxfordshire Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been admin ...

. She started learning the violin aged 12 and at 16 won a place as first violin with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain with whom she has toured the UK and played live at the BBC Proms. Previously she had recorded solos with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the City of Prague Philharmonia. Elspeth is studying towards a Masters at the Royal Academy of Music with Richard Deakin. She played and sang at The Southbank for

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

Aid. She gave a solo performance of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" at the

Birmingham Symphony Hall Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...

in July 2005 in the National Festival of Music for Youth and has performed solo fiddle live on radio at Celtic Connections in Glasgow and at the

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...

. She is an ambassador for

Wooden Spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

, a volunteer for South African foundation 'GGA' God's Golden Acre based in Kwazulu-Natal. Elspeth played solo in BBC's live Christmas broadcast ''The Liverpool Nativity'', and works alongside Philip Sheppard.

2008 – present

Hanson replaced original member

Haylie Ecker Haylie Ecker (born 9 October 1975) is an Australian performer, writer, artistic director, and the former first violinist and co-founding member of the multi-platinum selling classical crossover string quartet Bond. With Bond she sold over 4 mil ...

in 2008, when she left to have a child. Hanson had previously appeared at the

2008 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony The 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the ''Bird's Nest''.

alongside

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

and

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

during the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

handover. Around that time she also played at the Paralympics Closing Ceremony. In 2009

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

commissioned Bond to record

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

's " Four Seasons" to advertise the 308CC. These were among Hanson's first appearances with the Quartet.

References

External links

Bond Official Website

Elspeth Hanson
on Myspace English classical cellists Living people Bond (band) members 1986 births People from Basildon, Berkshire People educated at the School of St Helen and St Katharine {{cellist-stub