Lucy Railton

Lucy Railton is a British musician, primarily known for playing cello.

Railton studied cello at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated in 2008.

In the field of improvisational music, Railton has undertaken collaborations and shared performances with Kit Downes, Thomas Strønen, Aisha Orazabayeva and Sofia Jernberg, among others. Railton has also appeared on recordings by numerous jazz, folk, electronic, and indie rock artists, including Bat for Lashes, Bonobo, and Jamie Cullum.

Railton founded the new music series Kammer Klang at Cafe Oto in 2008, which she curated for ten years; she later co-founded the London Contemporary Music Festival.

In recent years she has also worked with artists such as Russell Haswell, Rebecca Salvadori, Catherine Lamb, Beatrice Dillon, Kali Malone and Kadialy Kouyate, as well as writer Laura Grace Ford and choreographers Akram Khan and Sasha Milavic Davies. She has also been involved in projects by Pauline Oliveros, Iancu Dumitrescu, Mary Jane Leach, Cally Spooner, Matmos, and Philippe Parreno. Her collaborations with some of these artists and their repertoire have led to extensive exploration of resonance, psychoacoustics, synthesis and microtonality, themes present in her own work.

In addition, Railton has worked as a soloist and chamber musician, alongside playing with ensembles such as London Sinfonietta, Britten Sinfonia, and Ensemble Plus Minus. In her programs as a soloist, she has interpreted canonical works, such as those by J.S. Bach or Giacinto Scelsi, as well as pieces by lesser-known and younger composers. Her interpretation of Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus by Olivier Messiaen was released by Modern Love as a benefit single.