Ellie Douglas
Principal, The North London Conservatoire
Ellie grew up in North London and went to Hornsey School for Girls. Here she gained an A* in her GCSE Music at the end of Year 9, resulting in her the exam board using her cello performance recording as an example of outstanding achievement. Ellie went on to study Music, English and French A Levels at Fortismere School in Muswell Hill, where she achieved excellent grades.
Ellie attended the Youth Music Centre (YMC) with Kay and Emmanuel Hurwitz from the age of four and started learning the cello with Gordon Pringle at the age of six. She became a member of the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain (NCO) when she was ten and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO) at fourteen. Ellie was also a member of the Haringey Young Musicians’ Symphony Orchestra (HYMSO) and she joined the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) at the age of sixteen to learn with Robert Max.
Ellie went on to read Music at New College, Oxford where she played with many different orchestras and a variety of chamber groups and was the Orchestral Manager of the Oxford University Philharmonia Orchestra. She also worked as a classroom assistant in a primary school and went to French and German lessons in her spare time. She graduated with a 2:1 Honours degree in 2002 and went on to work in a variety of roles in orchestral management including Assistant Orchestra Manager with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Tour Manager with the English Chamber Orchestra, Librarian and Orchestra Manager with the Philharmonia and Developemnt Manager with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She set up and managed the Young Janacek European Youth Orchestra and ran the Montepulciano Festival in Italy two years in a row in addition to her full time work.
Ellie was invited to move to Santiago de Chile in 2007 to take up the role of Orchestral Manager for the Opera House Orchestra at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago. After two years there she moved back to London to be closer to family, where she built up Stringers in London from a single-storey corner shop to a one of London's busiest instrument shops. Here she developed an interest in and an understanding of instruments of all levels, as well as restoration of instruments and bows.
Ellie joined the North London Conservatoire in early 2015, and did her first Colourstrings course in 2016. She became Vice-Principal in 2019 and took up the role of Principal in 2025. As well as this, Ellie teaches the cello to students of all ages and she also directs two of the younger string orchestras.
Ellie is married to trombonist and sackbut player Miguel Tantos and they live in London with two children (both Colourstrings students!).