The Gloucestershire Piano Trust

Clare set up the Gloucestershire Piano Trust in January 2024 to support her work in schools and prisons, with young musicians, in commissioning new music, and recording music by little-known composers.

Its principal focus is Clare's community work. Each year, she presents on average 30-36 concerts at primary schools in collaboration with Gloucestershire Music and 10 concerts at prisons across the South-West. This work reaches over 4,000 children and 300 prisoners annually, many of whom have not previously witnessed live music.

In each concert, Clare performs a series of short pieces, recounting the stories behind the music and what the composers were going through at the time. Clare started giving prison concerts after suffering from postnatal depression and often discusses mental illness with prisoners in post-concert Q&A sessions. By relating the challenges composers faced in their own lives, and performing the astonishing music they created, Clare shows how music can inspire, console and heal.

Read more on the Gloucestershire Piano Trust's website here.