About
Eloise MacDonald is a London-based freelance violinist with a diverse international career spanning traditional and contemporary classical music, historical performance, session work, and cross-genre collaborations.
Eloise has performed worldwide, with appearances at major venues across the UK and Europe including Wigmore Hall, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Elbphilharmonie and Philharmonie de Paris.
She performs regularly with leading UK orchestras such as Britten Sinfonia, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Recent engagements include the BBC Proms and performances with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, as well as numerous UK symphony orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra. Eloise also collaborates with pioneering ensembles such as 12 Ensemble, United Strings of Europe, Her Ensemble and the London Contemporary Orchestra, and has performed with artists including Max Richter and Hildur Guðnadóttir. She received orchestral training as part of the European Union Youth Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, and Southbank Sinfonia, and now represents freelance orchestral musicians as a Musicians’ Union Steward.
Equally at home in historically informed and contemporary performance, Eloise has performed with groups such as the London Sinfonietta, Hanover Band, Armonico Consort, and toured with Manchester Collective’s NEON, a multimedia project blending live music, electronics, and dance.
Her recording credits include work for TV, film, and studio albums such as recording with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, performing from memory in the documentary The Lost Music of Auschwitz (Sky Arts), on the soundtrack for Alien: Romulus, and featuring as solo violinist in BBC Three’s Just Act Normal. She records frequently with session orchestras at Abbey Road, Angel Studios, and RAK amongst others, and has also performed on the UK tour of Hamilton.
A passionate chamber musician, she has appeared at festivals including the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Roman River Festival, Wye Valley Winter Festival, and Stamford International Music Festival. She co-founded the Maconchy Quartet and launched the RETAKE Concert Series (supported by Arts Council England), focusing on music by underrepresented composers, especially women. She has also toured with guitarist Alexandra Whittingham (Through the Noise), and her solo performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, ARTE TV, NTS Radio, and Resonance FM.
Beyond the classical sphere, Eloise has toured and collaborated with artists such as Sigur Rós, Celeste (Tate Late), Montell Fish, Laura Mvula, Victoria Canal, and the Arctic Monkeys, and opened Glastonbury’s Other Stage with Fabio and Grooverider and the Outlook Orchestra. She has also explored folk and jazz, performing with Lisa O’Neill and Guy Barker’s Big Band.
She holds a Master’s degree with Distinction from the Royal College of Music, where she studied with Radu Blidar and Catherine Martin, following her undergraduate at the same institution. During her Erasmus at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) she studied with Philippe Graffin and Itamar Golan.
Eloise is an experienced educator and uses a highly personalised approach informed by the Kodály Method and Alexander Technique with students of all ages. A committed advocate for music as a tool for social change, she has led workshops and outreach projects with the London Sinfonietta, Chromatica, and the Benedetti Foundation, and previously led the Brixton Chamber Orchestra’s Christmas Estates tour. She has performed in hospitals, care homes, and early-years settings, and currently volunteers at Hackney Night Shelter, running music workshops for residents.