Stephanie Tress is a founding member of the Solem Quartet, one of the most noted UK ensembles of its generation. Praised for their “immaculate precision and spirit” (The Strad) and “cultured tone” (Arts Desk), they have a busy concert diary at venues such as Wigmore Hall and the Southbank Centre, and are often featured on BBC Radio and Classic FM.
Aside from the quartet, she is a member of the House of Bedlam, an experimental ensemble who have recently appeared at Kings Place and Aldeburgh Festival. Their concerts often involve improvisation and performance art (highlights have included jumping on a trampoline while trying to sing a Latin text, and consuming a graphic score made of marshmallows). Steph is also a member of the newly-formed ECCE, a cello trio set to give its debut at Wigmore Hall and release an album of mostly renaissance choral music with Delphian in 2026. Elsewhere recent performance highlights include Michael Gordon’s ‘Industry’ for solo cello and live electronics at Hidden Notes Festival with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood on distortion pedal.
Steph enjoys session work for film and TV; recent highlights have included playing on Charli XCX’s soundtrack to Wuthering Heights and meeting Danny Boyle after recording 28 Years Later.
Originally from Kingston-upon-Thames, Steph studied in Bremen, Germany, and then in Manchester. She graduated from the Joint Course at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music in 2014 with Distinction, winning a number of academic and performance awards including the Sir John Barbirolli Cello Competition.
Since September 2023 Steph has been a teacher of cello and chamber music at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. She plays a Thomas Kennedy cello from 1820, generously loaned to her by the family of her late teacher Michal Kaznowski.
Though she now lives in London (with principal 2nd violinist Will Newell and their 1-year-old), Steph considers Manchester her spiritual home and feels a bit giddy every time she steps off the train onto the platform at Piccadilly.
*Photo by Bertie Watson
If you would like to find out more about how you can support one of our musicians, please contact our Head of Philanthropy, Ruth Ellul, by emailing her here.
