First Woman to lead the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
February 2011, at home in Camden, London
b.1968, London
Clio Gould, an English violinist and professor, became the first woman at the age of 34 to lead the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming the first female leader of one of London’s symphony orchestras. Clio held this position for 14 years, the first woman to lead the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since it was formed in 1946. She plays the Rutson Stradivarius, kindly loaned to her by the Royal Academy of Music.