King Edward Musical Society (KEMS)

Julia Harding started playing the recorder at her primary school but really caught the music bug when she was asked to play the drums and cymbals in a secondary school production of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by David Bedford - at about the same time she had started to play a clarinet that used to belong to her dad.

When the school formed its jazz band, Julia started to play the saxophone and played in many concerts, school productions and shows. She first played with KEMS Orchestra at this time - third clarinet in Verdi's Triumphal March! She then studied for a BA in Music at Dartington College of Arts and Master's Degrees at Reading and Sheffield Universities.

Julia assisted in founding the KEMS Concert Band. She teaches woodwind and leads ensembles in Staffordshire and Cheshire schools, has a private teaching practice at her home in Macclesfield and conducts the Newcastle-Under-Lyme String Orchestra. She has appeared with the Beckford String Quartet, the KEMS Concert Band and Newcastle Strings as a soloist.