This new professorship marks Hannah’s significant achievements in music and her contribution to the Academy, whilst honouring the enduring legacy of Jacqueline du Pré. The title has been awarded with the blessing of the du Pré family, and was celebrated at an event at the Academy on Tuesday 26 September, attended by Jacqueline du Pré's sister Hilary.
Hannah’s principal teachers included Susannah Roberts, William Pleeth and Ralph Kirshbaum. She is now one of the outstanding cellists and mentors of her generation, who has nurtured a significant number of today’s leading cellists on the international stage, including Academy alumnus Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
A multiple prize winner in competitions such as Shell LSO, BBC Young Musician, Jacqueline du Pré Memorial and Pierre Fournier awards, Hannah has gone on to give many concerto performances with leading orchestras, including the London Mozart Players, LSO, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Halle, also making frequent broadcasts for BBC Radio, recording with renowned colleagues for ASV and Decca, and participating in numerous international festivals as both soloist and chamber musician.
Principal Jonathan Freeman-Attwood CBE said: ‘I am deeply grateful for the generosity of the du Pré family in allowing the Academy to celebrate Jackie with this new post for our distinguished cello professor, Hannah Roberts. Jackie is an iconic reference point for the artistic ambition to which we all aspire at the Academy. Generations of her family were students here, including Jackie’s mother, sister, niece and her sister’s husband, Christopher, whose father, Gerald Finzi, was professor of composition. One of Jackie’s closest links was, of course, through the Academy student and professor, Sir John Barbirolli, with whom was conceived that timeless testament to Elgar’s Cello Concerto.’
Hannah Roberts commented on her new professorship: ‘Jacqueline du Pré was a hugely formative influence on my own ‘cello journey’ and she continues to inspire musicians and music lovers alike through her transformative and uniquely creative musicianship. I’m extremely honoured to be invited to contribute to celebrating her lasting influence as Jacqueline du Pré Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music.’
Header image: Hannah Roberts performing
1st image: Event at the Academy to inaugurate Hannah Roberts as Jacqueline du Pré Professor of Cello (pictured left to right; Gerard Flotats, current cello student; Hannah Roberts; Hilary Finzi, Jacqueline du Pré's sister; Theresa Finzi, Hilary's daughter; Jonathan Freeman-Attwood)