Biography

Frances Lole is a professional trumpet player based in Freiburg, Germany, who can regularly be seen performing across Germany and Europe.

Originally hailing from Scotland, she was keen to pursue a career in trumpet from an early age, taking lessons at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior Department under Simon Bird and then at Chetham‘s School of Music in Manchester under Gareth Small, where she attained her DipABRSM and LRSM Diplomas by the age of 17.

She moved to Denmark in 2018 gaining her BMus at the Royal Academy of Music Aarhus under the tutelage of Prof. Kristian Steenstrup. Moving to Germany she gained an MMus in Orchestral Studies from the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg under Prof. Wim Van Hasselt and during her studies was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, with whom she performed at the Salzburg Festspiel under Teodor Currentzis.

As a freelance player, she has performed with orchestras across Europe including the Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Philharmonie Baden Baden, Basel Sinfonietta and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. Also an accomplished solo player, she won 2nd prize at the Bad Säckingen International Trumpet Competition in 2025.

Specialising on the natural trumpet, Frances studied an MMus in Historical Performance Practice at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. She has performed with various baroque ensembles including Concerto Köln and is currently a member of the Balthasar Neumann Orchestra NOVA Academy, with whom she performs across Europe and in Uruguay, working with renowned conductors such as Thomas Hengelbrock.