About

From Pembrokeshire to Bath.

Soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and leader of The Ashby Strings.

Portrait of cellist Maren Ashby seated with her cello

Op. 01 — Biography

Maren Ashby is a British cellist based in Bath. She grew up in Pembrokeshire, began the cello at seven, and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Hannah Roberts before a postgraduate year in Cologne. As a soloist and chamber musician she has performed at Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Kings Place, the Bath Mozartfest and the Two Moors Festival, and toured the Netherlands and Norway with the Avon Chamber Players. Critics have praised her “dark, singing tone” (Gramophone) and “quiet authority” (The Strad). Her recordings for Seren Records include Low Light (2026), Songs Without Words (2023) and the complete Bach suites (2021). New works have been written for her by Sarah Pyne, Tom Alder and Ilse Marr. Away from the concert platform she leads The Ashby Strings, a duo, trio and quartet that plays at weddings and private events across the South West, and teaches a small class of cellists of all ages. She plays a cello made by Charles Harris in London in 1830.

Op. 02 — Along the way

A few milestones

  1. 2008Royal Northern College of Music, with Hannah Roberts
  2. 2012Postgraduate year, Hochschule für Musik Köln
  3. 2015Joins the Avon Chamber Players
  4. 2016Founds The Ashby Strings
  5. 2021Bach: The Cello Suites, Seren Records
  6. 2022Wigmore Hall debut
  7. 2023Songs Without Words
  8. 2026Low Light

Op. 03 — The Ashby Strings

The quartet

The same four players at every wedding and event. We rehearse together every month and have shared a stage for ten years.

Maren Ashby, cello

Maren Ashby

Cello · leader

Plays a Charles Harris cello from 1830. Chooses the music, writes most of the arrangements and answers every email.

Isobel Grant, violin

Isobel Grant

Violin I

Leader of the Wessex Sinfonia and a regular with the Avon Chamber Players. Has played Canon in D more than 400 times and still likes it.

Dev Mistry, violin

Dev Mistry

Violin II

Folk fiddler and session player from Bristol. Brings the reels when the dancing starts.

Hannah Coe, viola

Hannah Coe

Viola

Studied in Glasgow and Leipzig. Teaches viola at Kingswood School and arranges the pop requests.

Close-up of an old cello’s f-hole, bridge and strings

Op. 04 — The instrument

A Charles Harris cello, London, 1830.

Made in a workshop off the Strand almost two hundred years ago, it came to me through a Welsh music trust when I was twenty-two. It has a dark, woody low string and a top that sings — and it does not like cold churches, which is why I always ask about the heating.

Op. 05 — In the press

What critics say

A dark, singing tone, and a rare patience with silence.

Gramophone, on Low Light

Quiet authority and a voice that stays with you long after the last note.

The Strad

Unhurried, warm and completely personal: Bach for the morning.

BBC Music Magazine

Tell me about your day.

Send a date and a venue. I reply within two days with availability, a quote and a few ideas for the music.

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