About

Perseus Editions was founded by cellist Robbie Stanley-Smith to cater for the growing demand for chamber reductions of orchestral and concerto works for cellos and strings. After having accumulated a sizeable back-catalogue of arrangements for cello ensemble over the years since 2008, he began the large-scale project of arranging staple cello concertos for four cellos and double bass in 2022. All of the works in the catalogue have been proofread and performed at least once, but occasional errors will inevitably persist. If you think you have found any, please contact info@perseuseditions.com

Bach Plus was founded in 2020 to bring together some of London's most dynamic musicians. The original series, From Darkness to Light, paired string chamber music with iconic works of solo Bach, with which we had become very familiar during lockdowns. Subsequent concerts have included the arrangements of the Dvořák, Haydn C and Saint-Saëns cello concertos, choral works by Bruckner and Mahler and Beethoven's Triple Concerto. The series now provides an exciting testing ground for new arrangements and programme ideas. Further details of past and upcoming concerts can be found here.

Robbie Stanley-Smith began learning the cello at the age of three with Penny Heath and the Suzuki method. With Helen Verney in Kingston he subsequently achieved distinctions at dipABRSM and LRSM level and entered the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. As a soloist he has appeared in Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and Schumann's Cello Concerto with Kingston Chamber Orchestra, and in Cambridge he performed the Walton, Dvořák and Elgar concertos, while studying Spanish and Latin at Emmanuel College. A keen chamber musician, he has played at the Leeds and RNCM chamber music festivals and at Wigmore Hall with Pro Corda, with whom he was a Leverhulme Fellow for 2019-20. In 2019 he completed a Master's of Performance with distinction under Richard Lester and Melissa Phelps at the Royal College of Music, where he won the 2018 Cello Prize and was generously supported by the H R Taylor Trust. Robbie loves teaching cello and languages, playing piano and double bass, organising chamber music concerts and arranging for cello ensemble. He lives in Camberwell and, since 2019, teaches primarily at Suzuki Hub in Hoxton.