We meet regularly to explore the string quartet repertoire, and to eat cake. Occasionally we give concerts and the details of these can be found on this site. 

Our playing has been described by one informed observer as "taut and well balanced" which is a compliment that we will work hard to be worthy of. The quartet is named after the area of Cornwall where the cakes are usually made.

Spurious Biographical Detail

Jessie benefited from a supportive piano teacher and so got grade 8 piano before taking her GCSEs. Whole class violin lessons allowed her to take up the violin aged 11, passing grade 8 five years later. She progressed through Northern Youth Strings and Stockport County Youth Orchestra to become leader and also had lots of chamber music groups through the county. It was learning to learn music that led her to getting the grades for medical school. She is now a hospital doctor and plays for Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, and is very privileged to be in the Wivelscombe string quartet.

Martin was lucky enough to attend a large Plymouth comprehensive school when learning a musical instrument was then an opportunity open to the many, and playing opportunities were engineered by dedicated un-demoralised staff. He played in the Cornwall Youth Orchestra, later in folk and rock bands,  and in orchestras when the opportunity arose. In the 90s he was a regular with the Oxford Sinfonia and a number of ad hoc chamber groups. Quartets were part of his education from the very beginning, thanks to his violin teacher, and they continue to shine like good deeds in a naughty world. He works as a scientist and communicator; among other things he is Associate Senior Researcher at the University of Lapland and Associate Lecturer at the University of Plymouth.

Hilary took up the violin aged 7 when it was just what we did in music lessons at primary school.  Most of her misspent youth passed in every amateur and youth orchestra imaginable in Hertfordshire - some of it alongside illustrious colleagues such as Jonathan Hurdle - before she took up the viola at the request of a friend in Oxford. Coincidentally her first, and current, violas were made by Martin.  She is on the Board of the new Plymouth Museum, the Box, and makes the cakes for the quartet rehearsals.

Ruth's Mum isn't afraid to have fun with silly songs and musical games and this ignited Ruth’s love of music at an early age. She had awful piano lessons but better ‘cello lessons and achieved Grade 8 and a driving licence for transporting the ‘cello in the same year. At school she wished she had taken up kit drumming so she could join a cool band rather than the school orchestra, but she did play percussion (and guitar and recorder) as a member of her family folk-dance band, Nine Pint Coggie. The twice-yearly Devon County Youth Orchestra residential weeks were awesome. After university Ruth was a primary school teacher and headteacher. Now she teaches the teachers, especially how to have fun with silly songs and musical games.

Rob was brought up in Kent, one of five children, whose father wanted a family string quartet. Being the third born, he was destined to play the viola and was lucky enough to go to a school with a strong music tradition. His work as a vet brought him to Saltash and he joined the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra and it was all downhill from there. Since semi-retirement he has played more and more chamber music and loves the intimacy of playing in a small group especially when there is a cake on offer! 

Andrew was born and brought up in south-west London and started playing the cello at seven years old. He was an active member of school orchestras and chamber groups and played a lot with various youth groups outside of school. Although he progressed quickly and got through the grades at a young age, as a teenager practicing wasn’t greatly appreciated and it often lagged behind other interests, especially sports. In fact, the cello playing was put on “hold” in his early twenties and after taking a degree in biology, followed by a PhD in neuroscience, he didn’t play a note for another 25 years. However, after moving to Cornwall twelve years ago, his wife suggested he showed her that he could actually play the cello. After collecting the neglected instrument from his dad’s house, he tentatively joined the Launceston Orchestra, a small social group and played with them for a few years. Since then, he has taken the cello back up with renewed vigour and it can be safely said that it is now at the top of his list of interests with any reluctance to practice left in the past! He now plays with the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra and when asked, he leapt at the chance to play with the quartet.

Lucy McIlwraith grew up playing and singing, with a musical family background. She played principal clarinet in her local youth orchestra and went on to sing in Durham University choir and to conduct her college choir and orchestra. She has sung in choirs all her adult life but this is her debut as a soloist. Lucy is an English teacher, who marks A Level essays during the holidays, so it is a true delight to be invited to sing such a broad and fun repertoire with the Wivelscombe Quartet.