Kenneth Wilson
Highway Cello

The music tells a story, or evokes emotion, which the poetry then explores, teases, reveals – or maybe subverts…

What kind of music do I play? Lots of Irish Airs and Ballads, in the fabulous arrangements by Ilse de Ziah. And the Bach Cello Suites – the most magical music ever written, for any instrument. I play foot-tapping and sensual tango, some well-known traditional tunes, a bit of film music. And when I feel like it, other stuff too.

At a wedding, say, or for a non-English-speaking audience, the cello can stand alone, without the poetry.

I wasn’t always The Highway Cellist. I came to it the long way round. For years I ran a travel company, Soul of India Tours, and led spiritual-interest group journeys in India, Nepal and Tibet. Then I formed a small property development company, and built some nice houses in London. Before that I was a Church of England Vicar.

I wrote a book called Orange Dust: Journeys After the Buddha, which His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote a foreword to, and said he liked very much.

Now I live in a treehouse in rural Cumbria, in the grounds of Ravenbridge Mill which I manage as a holiday let. I swim in a very cold lake, and plant trees – when I’m not playing the cello, that is.