Nelson born cellist Lavinnia Rae has resided in London for six years, following her undergraduate studies in New Zealand. In London she completed a Master of Performance with Distinction at the Royal College of Music with Richard Lester. As a Leverhulme Arts Scholar she completed a MPerf with Distinction in Orchestral Artistry in association with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under the tutelage of LSO principal cellist Rebecca Gilliver.
Lavinnia is currently on trial for tutti cello with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast and trialled with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2023. In the UK she regularly freelances with the LSO, BSO, and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. Lavinnia has been on contract with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and this past year appeared as acting principal cello of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.
Her chamber music highlights include featuring as a guest artist with the New Zealand String Quartet, performing at the Hellensmusic Festival alongside Tom Poster, Maya Iwabuchi and Lawrence Power, and attending the three-week intensive String Quartet Seminar mentored by the Takács Quartet at the Music Academy of the West.