Gildas Quartet Appoints New Violinist and Violist

Violinist Tom Aldren and violist Christine Anderson will join the ensemble

The UK's Gildas Quartet has announced the appointment of two new players: Tom Aldren, who will be the ensemble's new first violin, and viola player Christine Anderson. Meanwhile, violinist Hatty Haynes and violist Francesca Gilbert will depart from the ensemble.

Violinist Tom Aldren is presently Principal 1st Violin (no. 3) with Manchester Camerata — but he also frequently appears as a guest principal player with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, including the CBSO, BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish, and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, and chamber orchestras such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, and London Sinfonietta.

A member of the Lipatti Piano Quartet, Aldren has appeared alongside some of the UK's best-known chamber players, including Lawrence Power, Anthony Marwood, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, Valeriy Sokolov, and Tom Poster.

Violist Christine Anderson is a member of the London Mozart Players, and previously spent several years in the viola section of the Hallé orchestra. She also plays and tours regularly with many of the UK’s other major orchestras. In addition, Anderson appears with chamber orchestras including the Manchester Collective, the United Strings of Europe, Her Ensemble, and the Aurora Orchestra — with whom she recently performed Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring from memory at the BBC Proms.

Hailing originally from Glasgow, Anderson is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and London's Royal College of Music.