Barbara Maclaren is known in Lancashire as an inspirational teacher and enthusiastic ambassador for the horn.

After studies at the Royal Manchester College of Music and subsequently with Timothy Brown and Peter Damm, Barbara played with orchestras across the UK as a freelance musician. She worked as an extra player with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for 17 years, working with Tasmin Little, Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich, Susan Bullock, Joshua Bell, Libor Pesek and Vernon Handley. Barbara plays sub-principal horn on the RLPO's recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony.

Since 2003, Barbara has been an Executive Committee member of the British Horn Society, acting as ambassador and champion of the horn and horn playing internationally. She will be teaching at the British Horn Festival in October 2009. Barbara is a founder member of the wind group Ensemble Elan, who you can hear at the Grundy Gallery series in Blackpool on Friday 20th February 2009. She is also playing in performances of Mendelssohn's Elijah this spring at Rossall School, Fleetwood and with Preston's Orpheus Choir.