Meet the team
Sophie Middleditch - recorder
After graduating from Lancaster University in 1995, Sophie went on to study recorder, modern and baroque flute at Trinity College of Music. She has performed widely as a soloist and chamber musician, appearing at many festivals throughout the UK and has also been a member of the Essex Baroque Orchestra and the Britten Pears Baroque Orchestra. As a solo recitalist Sophie has performed at venues including the Handel House Museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum; Farnham Castle, Surrey and at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon. She is also in great demand as a teacher and has been recorder tutor at Chichester University since 1996. Recently she was invited to take part in the New London Chamber Ensemble’s recording: Carl Nielsen - Music for Wind and Piano released on the Meridian records label. Sophie formed her own baroque period chamber group, The Parnassian Ensemble, in 1998.
Helen Hooker - recorder
Since graduating from Trinity College of Music in 1993 Helen has enjoyed a varied musical career, including teaching, performing, conducting and writing. She performs regularly on the recorder, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, and has recorded several critically acclaimed CDs.
Helen spends a large part of her working life travelling throughout the British Isles, working as a guest conductor of recorder orchestras and ensembles. As well as being Musical Director for three recorder orchestras, Helen can regularly be found directing branches of the UK’s Society of Recorder Players, of which she is a Vice President. During the Covid-19 pandemic Helen launched a project to provide consort music and create play-along videos of recorder consort music to help amateur musicians continue playing during the restrictions. This project continues to this day, along with Score Lines, an educational blog which is read by recorder players all over the world.
Gareth Deats -baroque ‘cello
Gareth obtained a first-class honours degree in music from University of Southampton, where he was also awarded the Peter Evans prize for outstanding performance. He studied cello with Paul Cox and then completed a post-graduate course at the Guildhall School of Music, where he studied baroque cello with Anthony Pleeth.
Gareth has performed extensively throughout Europe as principal cello for many of the leading period instrument orchestras, notably holding the principal position with La Serenissima for 22 years. He has also performed in a wide range of chamber music ensembles.
He has recorded over 20 CDs as principal cellist or soloist, including concertos and chamber music. These have garnered much critical acclaim including winning a Gramophone award in 2010 with La Serenissima (The French Connection, on Avie Records).
Gareth also teaches, and wrote two of the modules for the Music Teaching in Professional Practice course at University of Reading. He has also cultivated a passion for dancing, particularly salsa, and has taught a combination of latin music and dance, as well as performing at international congresses.
David Pollock - harpsichord
David studied at both the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. He took up historical performance because of a longstanding love for the music of J. S. Bach and soon came to specialise in the harpsichord, winning the Croft Early Music First Prize in 1991. Since then he has appeared at prestigious venues across the UK and abroad. He is fascinated by the creative possibilities of basso continuo with its potential for infinitely varied improvisatory colours.
Notable performance projects have focused on Bach’s harpsichord concertos and the virginals music of William Byrd. Several contemporary composers have written works specially for him. David has released recordings of solo French harpsichord music (LIR 006), and English (MMC 112), as well with his duo, Duo Dorado www.duodorado.co.uk. Their latest recording of Sonatas by the 17th century Moravian composer Gottfried Finger, released in 2019, received five stars in BBC Music Magazine.