AUDREY RILEY INTERVIEW

Audrey talking about her career

Audrey Riley on how to choose a cello

Highly respected classical musician, Audrey Riley has been breaking the boundaries between classical and rock music for many years now.

She began her career back in 1983 after training at the Guildhall School of Music, where she was a cellist for Virginia Astley and a one-time auxiliary member of The Family Cat. Starting as she meant to go on she became a member of the post-minimalist classical group Icebreaker in 1989.

After working for nearly two decades as an arranger and improvising session cellist, Riley has gained an overwhelming list of credits including The Smiths, The Cure, The Sundays, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Coldplay, Feeder, Muse and Moloko.

From London to Los Angeles Riley is setting standards for other musicians, whether it’s improvising with bands, playing live or creating string arrangements her talent knows no boundaries.

Riley explains: “I think there’s also a lot of stereotyping that goes on which is quite funny, which is that it’s strange for a classical musician to be working with a rock band.

Certainly when I was at college it felt like I was doing something really against the norm. But now it’s not really unusual at all for bands to work with string players.”