Hannah Harding is a bassoonist and contrabassoonist based in Cardiff. After achieving a First Class Masters degree in Music at University of Cambridge (Downing College) she is now entering the second year of her master’s degree in Orchestral Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she was recently awarded the Eirwen Thomas Scholarship for Meritorious Achievement.

Hannah enjoys frequent placement opportunities with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Welsh National Opera, the latter with whom she recently received her first professional performance work as fourth bassoon on their English Summer Tour 2022 around the South of England. Another recent highlight has been performing second bassoon within the WNO Orchestra at the RWCMD-WNO Opera Gala, playing excerpts from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

Summer 2022 has seen Hannah performing with Esker Festival Orchestra, made up of emerging young professional musicians from Ireland, Europe, and across the globe. This year, EFO toured Galway, Cork, and Dublin with a programme of Mahler’s First Symphony (principal bassoon), Chausson’s Poeme for Solo Violin and Orchestra (principal bassoon), and a new work by Kellie O’Neill (second bassoon), making it a hugely enriching and productive week of music-making.
 
She looks forward to continuing her studies at the Royal Welsh College, maintaining her role as principal contrabassoonist of Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, in addition to developing her skills as an arranger through her master’s studies.

Hannah is immensely grateful for the continued support of the Cherubim Music Trust in loaning their beautiful ‘Rothermere-Gosling’ Moosmann Model 200 bassoon to her since May 2017, in addition to allowing her to make use of their wonderful Mollenhauer contrabassoon for her personal practice during vacation periods.