Sue Baxendale

Sue Baxendale is the Section Principal Horn of the Orchestra of Scottish Opera and plays modern horn, natural horn and Wagner Tuba. 

Sue read English and Music at the University of Birmingham before studying the horn at postgraduate level at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. After graduating, she freelanced extensively with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Halle, Opera North, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ballet and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra amongst many others.

A Horn Tutor at the RCS Junior Conservatoire and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Sue also teaches at the Music School of Douglas Academy and St Mary’s Music School and can be found tutoring many orchestral and chamber music courses, including the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, National Children’s Orchestra, National Youth Wind Ensemble of Scotland, the Caledonian Chamber Orchestra and Malvern Winds, which she co-directs.  

A varied portfolio musician and passionate about working creatively with young musicians, Sue now combines her opera and teaching commitments with freelancing both as a player and as a Creative Producer and Project Manager, devising and delivering outreach work for children, young people and adults. Projects include programmes for McOpera Outreach (which she co-directs) and for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Creative Learning), and several large-scale community operas for the Lammermuir Festival.