Elizabeth Bradley

MMus SOAS, GRNCM, PGCert Tutor of Double Bass (LRAM)
A double bassist supports the neck of her instrument and smiles to camera backed by sunny greenery

Elizabeth Bradley began teaching on the LRAM Diploma course in 2019, whilst also a member of the Junior faculty at Trinity Laban Conservatoire

After 20 years at Junior Trinity teaching double bass, double bass ensemble and chamber music classes, Elizabeth now teaches at Colourstrings where her students range from young beginners to young professionals. Since 2008, she has also been a member of the Music for Life team, based at Wigmore Hall.

As a young bassist, Elizabeth represented Scotland, playing a concerto with the LSO as finalist in the Shell LSO String competition. Subsequently, during a career spanning more than 35 years, she has performed and recorded with a diverse range of ensembles - amongst these; Bach Players, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Baroque Soloists and ORR with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Collegium Musicum 90 with Simon Standage and Sir Richard Hickox, Lontano with Odaline de la Martinez, as well as artists including Muse, Moloko, Feeder and Birdy.

At different learning moments in her life, Elizabeth has enjoyed meeting and taking classes with renowned and inspiring double bass players, including Gary Karr whilst at school in Edinburgh, Franco Petracchi whilst a student at the RNCM, and both Rinat Ibragimov and Francois Rabbath whilst a professional player.

In 2005, Elizabeth taught at Buskaid string teaching project in Soweto, S.A., as part of her Ethnomusicology Masters dissertation at SOAS University of London. Over the last 15 years she has also pursued her interest in the psychology of musical development, completing a PGCert in ‘Sounds of Intent’ from the University of Roehampton. In 2026 Elizabeth will become a fully qualified practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method.

Elizabeth has recently enjoyed exploring the tradition of playing the three-string double bass in an Italian repertoire project with the ORR, playing on her William Gilkes instrument from 1850, originally constructed as a three-string double bass.


Image credit: Jane Cox