Alison Holford was born and brought up in Birmingham. She read music at Huddersfield University and Trinity College of Music, studying with Sue Lowe, Anna Shuttleworth and David Kenedy. At Trinity College of Music she was principal cello in the college Symphony Orchestra and the Contemporary Music Group. Since graduating she has pursued a busy freelance career, both playing and teaching in London and the south-east of England. Her performing work includes: principal cello ofSt Paul's Sinfonia; solo cello in Splinter Cell, a contemporary music group based in Canterbury that aims to mix the most challenging and virtuosic pre-composed music with free improvisation, and collaborate with other art forms including film, visual art and dance; cellist in Bridgetower Music, a flexible chamber ensemble performing anything from piano trios to Pierrot Lunaire; and in France, principal and continuo cello of Opera de Baugé. Recently she has been the solo cello in OperaUpClose’s production of Tosca in the West End and on tour ('Outstanding' The Independent; ‘Cellist Alison Holford’s playing is so sweet that I am called again and again to listen with great attention’ - playstosee.com). With OperaUpClose she has also been the solo cello in La Traviata; solo/continuo in Dido and Aeneas; and solo in Carmen. With King's Head Opera, Alison was the solo cello in new productions of La Boheme and Madame Butterfly. Alison has performed with the Manchester Camerata and Lancashire Sinfonietta. With St Paul’s Sinfonia, Alison has performed the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Cellos (with Helen Neilson), the Brahms Double Concerto (with James Widden, violin), the Shostakovich 1st cello concerto, and the Barber cello concerto. Alison is also a long-suffering supporter of Aston Villa F.C.