| Margaret Moncrieff | |
| Pseudonym: | Helen McClelland |
| Birth Name: | Helen Margaret Moncrieff |
| Birth Date: | 6 February 1921 |
| Birth Place: | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Occupation: | Cellist, teacher, writer |
| Nationality: | British |
| Alma Mater: | Royal College of Music |
| Genres: | --> |
| Subjects: | --> |
| Children: | 2, including Catriona Kelly |
| Relatives: | Alexander Moncrieff, Lord Moncrieff (father) Helen McClelland Adams (mother) |
(Helen) Margaret Moncrieff (6 February 1921 – 12 November 2008) was a Scottish cellist and author writing under the pseudonym Helen McClelland and writing novels in the Chalet School series.[1]
Helen Margaret Moncrieff was born in 1921 in Edinburgh, Scotland, daughter of Alexander Moncrieff, Lord Moncrieff, and Helen, née McClelland Adams, formerly Spens.[2] [3]
In London, Moncrieff studied the cello at the Royal College of Music with Ivor James, and then in Paris, with Pierre Fournier.[2] She went on to a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher.
Moncrieff was a professor of cello at the Royal College of Music.[3]
When Moncrieff was in her 60s, she became a writer.[3] In 2003, Moncrieff wrote her memoir.
In 1957, Moncrieff married Alexander Kelly (1929–1996) a pianist, composer, and later head of keyboard studies at the Royal Academy of Music.[4] They had two children: cellist Alison Moncrieff Kelly, and Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian at New College, Oxford.[1]
Montcrieff's entries in the series include:[7]