Lauren Wesley-Smith is a cellist born in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, in 1997. Following her distaste for all the standing required to play the violin, she began the cello at the age of 10, and decided a year later that that would be her career forever.

Lauren graduated her Bachelor of Music degree cum laude from Stellenbosch University in December 2019, having been the recipient of numerous scholarships including the prestigious Graham Beck First Year Scholarship, and attaining a total of 36 distinctions.

Highlights of her journey as a performer include playing at the State Theatre Memorial for Nelson Mandela with the South African National Youth Orchestra in 2013, working as an ad-hoc cellist for the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra for their Winter Season in 2022, and performing to a sold-out audience for the concert “Cello-Piano Favourites” with pianist Alexandra Beaven, hosted by Old Nectar Gardens in Stellenbosch in May 2022.

Lauren became an Instrumental Ambassador at the Benedetti Foundation in 2022 while still in South Africa, and has relished the chance to help out at live sessions since moving to the UK.

She is currently pursuing a postgraduate Professional Diploma at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, which has allowed her to pursue her love of chamber music and to discover a new passion for improvisation.

Lauren also works part-time as the editorial assistant at The Strad magazine, which involves substantially more cat memes than one might expect.