Frances Taylor is Britain’s leading exponent of the Italian school of mandolin playing. She studied under the internationally acclaimed virtuoso mandolinist Ugo Orlandi at the Conservatoire of Padua. She is the first and only British person to do so.

In 1992 she gained a Masters degree in Music from London University which, it is believed, was the first degree to be awarded in Britain with mandolin performance as an integral part of the assessment.

For 25 years Taylor has worked tirelessly promoting the mandolin by giving concerts throughout Britain. She has played in high profile venues such London’s South Bank and St James’ Piccadilly as well as working with prestigious orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet Orchestra and the Joensuu Symphony Orchestra. She has also worked abroad, performing in France, Italy, Denmark and Finland.

An enthusiastic teacher of the mandolin, Taylor runs workshops throughout the country. In addition she has created a unique and special project in London to introduce young people to the mandolin in which, with the help of private sponsorship, instruments are purchased from Italy and loaned out to pupils. In 2007 she was tutor for the European Guitar and Mandolin Youth Orchestra in Ferrara, Italy, and at home she acts as specialist examiner for Trinity College of Music.

Taylor began her career outside the world of music. Unable to find sufficient funding for her musical studies she pursued her other love of writing by working and training as a local newspaper reporter. Today, despite the different direction her career has taken, she still writes professionally, reviewing music and books for various specialist publications such as Classical Music and Music Teacher.

No stranger to the media, Taylor has appeared on the Artsworld Channel, local radio and featured in countless press articles at both local and national level. Her CD Italian Mandolin Sonatas received a rave review in Musical Opinion and was highlighted as Natalie Wheen’s ‘Classic Discovery’ on Classic FM radio.