Clare Salaman plays
violin, baroque violin, hurdy gurdy, nyckelharpa,
medieval vielle, rebec, hardanger fiddle and accordion.
After graduating in music from Merton College, Oxford,
she completed two years of postgraduate study at the
Royal College of Music. While there she joined the
English Concert, which led to work with all the major
period instrument orchestras in the UK. Her wide
experience as a leader and chamber music player with many
groups includes The Purcell Quartet, Dufay Collective,
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London Handel
Players and St James Baroque Players. She has directed
the period instrument orchestras in the Welsh College of
Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music. Her
interest in non-Western music has led to collaborations
with musicians from India, Tanzania, Iran, Norway and
Spain as well as traditional music players from England,
Wales and Scotland. She has performed Hurdy Gurdy
concertos with the Palladian Ensemble and London Handel
Players and plays the hurdy gurdy and Swedish nyckelharpa
in The Ian McMillan Orchestra and her own trio SYM and is
founder member of The Society of Strange and Ancient
Instruments.