Josh Mountford
About
Josh Mountford is a highly accomplished British cellist, orchestral principal, and session multi-instrumentalist whose diverse career spans major international concert halls, live television broadcasts, and high-profile ensemble direction.
Josh’s elite technical foundation is backed by a Master of Arts in Performance with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music and a First-Class Honours BMus from the Royal Northern College of Music, having trained under the celebrated tutelage of Jo Cole and Hannah Roberts. A former Principal Cellist of both the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the CBSO Youth Orchestra, he has established an outstanding reputation within the UK’s orchestral landscape. He performs regularly with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Manchester Camerata, and is a prominent member and frequent Principal Cellist of the celebrated Paraorchestra, including leading the section for high-profile live broadcasts at the BBC Proms.
Josh’s exceptional performance standard has been recognised by a vast array of industry accolades, including the Shirley Catterall Award, the Guilhermina Development Award, and consecutive Postgraduate Awards from Help Musicians UK. He has performed at many of the UK's most prestigious venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican Centre, and Birmingham Symphony Hall, alongside international appearances at Berlin’s Konzerthaus. Josh performs on a premier Robin Aitchison Montagnana-model cello.
Projects
The Petford Ensemble
Josh is the founding director, principal fixer, and artistic leader of the Petford Ensemble, a highly polished commercial string collective established in 2019. Operating flexibly anywhere from an intimate solo cello setup to a dynamic duo, trio, or full string quartet, the ensemble combines exceptionally high musical standards with absolute administrative precision. Under Josh's direction, the group oversees end-to-end logistics, tailored programming, and client contracts for high-end corporate functions, private galas, and luxury event commissions across the UK and mainland Europe. Their expansive repertoire moves effortlessly across classical masterworks, jazz standards, and custom pop and film score arrangements.
Concerto Performances & Solo Recitals
Josh maintains an active solo practice, appearing as a guest concerto soloist with regional orchestras and delivering commanding recital programmes for arts festivals and chamber music societies. His expansive concerto repertoire includes the major masterworks for the instrument, including Haydn (C and D major), Dvořák, Schumann, Shostakovich, and Elgar—the latter performed to high acclaim alongside the Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra. As a recitalist, his repertoire moves fluidly from late-Romantic and early 20th-century sonatas by Brahms, Debussy, and Prokofiev, through to complex, avant-garde solo works by Ligeti and Hindemith, and selections from Bach’s Cello Suites.
Studio Tracking & Feature Film Sessions
An experienced and highly adaptable session cellist, Josh is a regular fixture in commercial studio tracking environments, recording both as an orchestral section player and an intimate solo acoustic voice. He works fluidly alongside film composers and media production houses to track soundtracks for television, global ad campaigns, and independent cinema. His selected commercial recording credits include tracking the official score for the international HIPA Photography Awards and providing prominent solo cello tracking for several feature films, including The Chocolate Club, Beneath the Silence, The Sun Also Rises, and Vendetta.
Cinematic Ensemble & Commercial Crossover
Stepping well beyond the boundaries of traditional classical playing, Josh is the co-founder and Creative Director of Cinematic Ensemble, a specialised chamber group created to authentically perform contemporary film and modern cinematic scores in concert settings. Within this ensemble, Josh acts as a multi-instrumentalist, combining cello with electronic elements and keyboards. His pop and crossover credentials also include performing on both electric cello and keyboards for the internationally toured Forever Elton tribute show, playing extensive live dates across the UK and Europe.
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