In May 2012, Vashti Hunter became the first British cellist to win an award at the Prague Spring International Cello Competition. The young artist has performed in numerous concert halls in Europe such as Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall London, Schönbrunn Palace, Rudolfinum Prague, Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin and with orchestras such as Pilsen Philharmonic, Filarmonica Brasov, Göttingen Symphony, Southwest German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim and Southbank Sinfonia. Her concerts have been recorded by BBC, SWR, NDR, ORF, KBS (Korean Radio/Television) and Deutschlandradio.
Vashti Hunter is a sought-after soloist and chamber musician and has appeared at many festivals, including the Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, Heidelberger Frühling, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, PODIUM Festival Esslingen, Davos Festival and Prussia Cove in England. Her chamber music partners include the Quartetto di Cremona, Pekka Kuusisto, Ferenc Rados, Martha Argerich, Ivry Gitlis, Vilde Frang, Alexander Lonquich, Nicolas Altstaedt and Steven Isserlis. A co-founder of Trio Gaspard, she studied with former Alban Berg Quartet member Hatto Beyerle. With the Trio Gaspard she won numerous prizes at international competitions, including 1st prize and the special prize at the “5th International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition” in Vienna and at the “International Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition” in Weimar.
Vashti Hunter participated in master classes with Natalia Gutman, Steven Isserlis, Anner Bylsma, Bernard Greenhouse, Gary Hoffman, Alexander Rudin, Arto Noras and Torleif Thedéen. Likewise, she has had the opportunity to learn from artists such as Ferenc Rados, Peter Nagy, Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet), Gerrit Zitterbart (Abegg Trio), Avedis Kouyoumdjian and Peter Cropper (Lindsay Quartet). Vashti Hunter completed her concerto studies with Leonid Gorokhov at the Hanover University of Music Theater and Media, with support from the Leverhulme Foundation and the German Foundation for Musical Life.
An experienced orchestral musician, she has been principal cellist of the Kammerakademie Potsdam since 2016. She is also a guest cellist with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has been invited as a guest solo cellist by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Since October 2017, Vashti Hunter has been teaching chamber music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.