Matilda Lloyd: 'I was bored of my toys and found dad's old trumpet, now I'm performing on stages all over the world'
It was a happy accident that led to Matilda Lloyd playing the trumpet for the first time when she was eight years old. “Apparently, I was a curious child and one day I was bored with my toys and looking through the cupboards for something new to play with.
“I found my dad’s old trumpet which had just been sitting there gathering dust because he hadn’t touched it since he left school. It looked cool and made an interesting noise when I blew it, and that’s how it all started.”
Matilda comes from a musical family, her mother is a piano teacher and accompanist, and though she learned how to play the piano and cello and sang in local choirs, it was the trumpet she was particularly drawn to. “It’s the most versatile instrument, in the sense you hear it in pop music, West End shows and mariachi bands, as well as in salsa music and military bands, it cuts right across all the different genres,” she says.
Matilda won the 2014 BBC Young Musician of the Year Brass competition, was described by BBC Music Magazine as a “trumpeter extraordinaire”, and has just been shortlisted for Young Artist of the year at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards 2026.
She is in Harrogate this weekend for the latest concert in this year’s Harrogate International Sunday Series when the trumpet will take centre stage, guiding the audience on a journey through Bach, Haydn and Gershwin.
Joining her on stage will be the Goldmund Quartet, renowned worldwide for their classical and contemporary chamber music repertoire, and as well as performing works by famous names, they will also celebrate two little known female composers Pauline Viardot and Marianna Martines.
“The idea is we create an intimate, relaxed concert that reimagines the 19th century salon concerts that these powerhouse women would host in their beautiful homes in places like France, Italy and Germany,” Matilda says. “I want to tell a story and shine a spotlight on these female composers who are very little known and showcase what the trumpet can do – from Bach to Gershwin.”
This will be Matilda’s third performance in the North Yorkshire spa town having played there previously with the Harrogate Symphony Orchestra in 2018 and 2022. “We have a bit of a running joke that I only come here every four years – a bit like the Olympics.”
She previously performed at the Royal Hall and this time it will be in the more intimate surroundings of the Old Swan Hotel which hosts popular Sunday morning coffee concerts. “I really love the town and it will be lovely to come back and play in a completely new venue,” Matilda says. “It’s fun going to new places, which I find myself doing most of the time, but it’s really nice going back to places and having that familiarity of knowing where the nice restaurants and coffee shops are.”
A classically trained musician, Matilda grew up in Kent and enjoyed music lessons at Junior Guildhall in London before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Music, which is when she knew she wanted to be a soloist rather than an orchestral trumpet player.
She won several music prizes which helped raise her profile, with a pivotal moment coming in 2017 when she won her first international competition – the Éric Aubier International Trumpet Competition. Part of the prize was to go on tour with the orchestra in northern France. “I keep a journal and I remember doing a journal entry after one of the concerts in the middle of nowhere. I’d just come off stage and I wrote ‘yes, this is what I want to do!”
Since then, she has performed all over the world and is passionate about the benefits of classical music. “I think it’s such a wonderful outlet for creativity and self-expression. It teaches you teamwork and leadership and gives you so many life skills, like the discipline to practice every single day. It’s really fulfilling and teaches you that there are no shortcuts in life. There isn’t an AI prompt that will make you a better player. You have to work hard and that hard work pays off.”
She recently became Professor of Trumpet at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London – is close to her heart and music education is close to her heart. In her hectic schedule, she manages to find time to squeeze in masterclasses and other educational work. “It would be my greatest wish for every child in the UK to have the opportunity to learn an instrument of their choice,” she says.
Matilda also believes that if we want to attract more young people into classical music then we need to engage with them on social media, which is why she posts behind the scenes footage to show the realities of life as a working musician.
“There’s a lot of focus on getting young people into concert halls, which is great. But also, can we take the concert hall to them by using Instagram and Tiktok, and making it entertaining and funny? I get people coming to my concerts who have discovered me through social media and it’s the first time they’ve ever been to a classical concert, and I love that.”
Matilda hopes that those who come to listen to her in Harrogate, whether they are veteran concertgoers or new to it all, get a thrill from the performance. “Every person who sits in a concert hall will experience it and respond to it a little bit differently. That’s what makes classical music unique and so special.”
Matilda Lloyd and the Goldmund Quartet, the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, February 8, 11am. To book online, visit harrogateinternationalfestivals.com or alternatively, call the box office on 01423 562 303.