Kate Gould is a highly versatile cellist, best known for her extensive careering the world of chamber music, principal cello orchestral work and her longstanding membership of the Chamber orchestra of Europe.

She formed the Leopold String trio at the Royal Academy of Music in 1991. They recorded extensively for Hyperion Records, including discs of Schubert, Mozart and Brahms in partnership with pianists Marc Andre Hamelin and Paul Lewis. They were inaugural BBC New Generation Artists and collected many prestigious accolades including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and the RPS Award for Chamber Music.

The final line up with Isabelle van Keulen and Lawrence Power gave their last performance in 2012 at the Barbican, playing Tippett’s Triple Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra., live on Radio 3. After this time Kate turned her focus to piano trios with the London Bridge Trio, recording chamber music by Frank Bridge, Schumann and Fauré.

Kate is Artistic Director and cellist of the flourishing Winchester Chamber Music Festival in her hometown, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2027. She is co-artistic director of the Ironstone Chamber Music Festival and is often invited to other festivals, playing regularly in Penarth, Corbridge and Peasmarsh as well as at the Festival de los Site Lagos, Argentina.

Her frequent guest principal cello engagements have recently included London Mozart Player, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra Révolutionaire et Romantique.

Kate often gives classes and adjudicates prizes and exams at the London music colleges. She has coached on many chamber music and national youth orchestra courses and will be teaching at the Virtuoso International Music Academy in August 2026, held at Winchester College