Help Theo to purchase a 1780 Baroque Cello

Hello, I'm Theo and I am a second year masters student and ABRSM scholar at the Royal College of Music. I am looking to raise money (£19,000) towards the purchase of a fine ‘baroque/classical’ cello for my exclusive use. The instrument is a c.1780 instrument made by the eminent (and infamous) English maker Lockey Hill – who made a number of excellent violins and cellos before being tried at the Old Bailey for horse stealing and executed in 1792. The cello is being sold by the London string instrument dealer/makers Bridgewood and Neizert for £30,000 (plus £1,000 for baroque adaptations).

Having the instrument will allow me to play the music (baroque and early classical) that I love and which I believe is enlivened by historically informed performance practice – there is no getting away from it - Bach just sounds better played on a period instrument with gut strings! This cello will be a real specialist historic instrument – ie one with all the sound-enriching features of that era – gut strings, specialist baroque and classical bows, lower bridge, no spike, ebony endpiece etc. For nineteenth and twentieth-century repertoire, I will keep my modern cello.

I have already secured £12,000 towards the purchase price - £5,000 from the sale of my old baroque cello and £7,000 from my savings and from family.

I will immediately put the cello to good use. The baroque chamber group I cofounded, The Great Bear Ensemble, has already appeared at the Royal College of Music, the 5th Prangins Baroque Festival (Switzerland) and in Siena (Italy) and we are shortly to appear at the Handel Hendrix House (Handel’s home 1723-59) as part of the London Handel Festival 2025. To showcase the new Lockey Hill cello, I will be playing a series of six concert programmes based around each of the Bach solo cello suites showing the development of the cello, dance and Bach biography. All donors will be invited - come and hear it for yourself!

This breathtaking photo of the interior of a 1780 Lockey Hill cello (not mine) was taken by cellist/photographer Charles Brooks. He has said that he will donate 20% of any photo print order income to this fund! Contact him at his website. https://www.charlesbrooks.info/