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British violist Clement Pickering took up the post of Principal Viola of the BSO in September 2025. Clement was offered the role prior to his Master's degree graduation, which he undertook at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Andriy Viytovych and Simon Rowland-Jones, the latter being a Maiastra coach. Prior to this, Clement had completed his undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, as a student of Martin Outram.  

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Clement attended four Maiastra courses in recent years with Arisa Fujita and Akiko Ono in March 2023, July 2023, February 2024 and May 2024.

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Clement performs on an E.A. Ouchard bow on loan from the Aidan Woodcock Charitable Trust. Everyone at Maiastra wishes Clem the very best with his new role!

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"I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the BSO — it has such a rich history, and to be a small part of that is so exciting. The whole Orchestra and BSO team have been so welcoming and supportive throughout my trial, and I couldn’t be happier to join this stellar viola section."

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You can read the rest of Clem's interview about his new job with the BSO here: https://bsolive.com/news/our-new-section-principal-viola-clem-pickering/