For glamour, fabulous music, and professional experience it can only be Stringsaloud South East of England

For music with soul, class and sparkle only Berkshire’s finest strings are aloud…

Stringsaloud South East of England were formed in 2010. Mairi, Sarah and Alice teach together for Berkshire’s foremost music education service and Shelagh and Mairi attended youth orchestras together in Scotland.
The quartet cover venues for weddings, corporate events, private parties and session work in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey.

Mairi Hunter-Barr

Mairi graduated in 2003 with BA (Hons) Applied Music with Business specialism from Stathclyde University. Since graduating, Mairi has taught violin and viola full time in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and now Berkshire. She currently coaches youth orchestras, electric string ensembles and acoustic quartets.
She created Stringsaloud Scotland in 2005 and after 6 years of building a successful reputation in Scotland, managing over 400 weddings and events, Mairi launched new teams in South East England in 2010.
All new repertoire for Stringsaloud is selected or arranged personally by Mairi, showing her dedication to providing the very best in musical entertainment for clients' special events. 

Sarah Wagstaff

Having studied music at Liverpool University, Sarah went on to The Royal Northern College of music for postgraduate studies. 
Having spent the last eight years in string quartets and enjoying freelance, her playing now reflects her experience and enjoyment for an eclectic mix of musical genres. 
She is a dedicated violin/viola teacher in Berkshire and has experience of conducting some of Berkshires youth string ensembles.

Shelagh McKail

Since growing up in Ayrshire, music has always been a huge part of Shelagh’s life. However it was only after gaining an honours degree in Physiology and Sports Science from the University of Glasgow that she decided a career in music was what she really wanted. She then undertook a Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music (2006-2008) where she studied with Martin Outram and won a Bache Fund Prize in 2007. In 2009 Shelagh was a member of Southbank Sinfonia, where she regularly held the role of principal viola. During this year she worked alongside members of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, BBC Concert Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and London Sinfonietta. Performing in the orchestra for Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (a play for actors and orchestra) at the National Theatre was one of Shelagh’s highlights of 2010.

Shelagh is currently working as a freelance viola player and has performed with various orchestras including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (including performances at the BBC Proms) and the Orchestra of Opera North. She enjoys the variety of work that comes from being a musician; from teaching in schools in inner London to performing on cruise ships in Greenland, every day is different!

Alice Hoskins

Alice Hoskins graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2009 and now works as a freelance cellist and teacher. At the Royal Academy of Music, she won the Hilda Anderson Deane Award and the Sir John Barbirolli Memorial prize and was Principal cellist of Academy Symphony Orchestra under Mark Elder and Sir Colin Davis. She was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and performed in concert halls across Europe under Ashkenazy. As a soloist she has performed Elgar’s cello concerto with Henley Symphony Orchestra and Kol Nidrei with Henley Leichlingen Orchestra. She has also given recitals in St. James’s Picadilly. She has performed in numerous chamber ensembles, giving recitals across the UK and performing in the Festival of Polish Music in Krakow.

Alice has recorded soundtracks for BBC 4 documentaries, for Eliza Doolittle’s debut album , played in the BBC’s hit TV series ‘Maestros’ and ITV’s ‘Midsommer Murders’. She also often performs at corporate events, most recently for Deloitte at the National Theatre, Southbank.