Florence Hooton (8 July 1912 – 14 May 1988) was an English cellist. She was born in Scarborough, the daughter of a cellist, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Douglas Cameron, then in Zurich with Emanuel Feuermann.[1]
Her debut recital was in 1934 at the Wigmore Hall and her BBC Proms debut a year later, playing Beethoven's Triple Concerto.[2] During the 1930s she was a member of the Grinke Trio (with violinist Frederick Grinke and pianist Dorothy Manley) and the New English String Quartet. She later formed the Loveridge-Martin-Hooton Trio with pianist Iris Loveridge and her husband, the violinist David Martin. It was active between 1956 and 1976.[3]
Hooton became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in 1964 and also gave private lessons in Suffolk and Sheffield.[4] The Academy holds a portrait of her by Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn, painted in 1936. It is hanging in the Duke's Hall.[5]
Her premiere performances included:
Hooton recorded with Decca from the late 1930s and was a frequent broadcaster.[4] Her last public performance was in 1978. In 1981 she commissioned Gordon Jacob to write a Cello Octet for her students at the Royal Academy.[10] She was appointed OBE in 1982. Following her death the Academy established the annual David Martin/Florence Hooton Concerto Prize in her memory.[11]
Hooton married David Martin in 1938. They lived in Ickenham in Middlesex at 34, Thornhill Road,[12] and later at 345 Stag Lane, London NW9. There were two daughters. Martin died in 1982.[4][13]