Clemency Burton-Hill

Clemency Margaret Greatrex Burton-Hill (born 1981) is an English broadcaster, author, novelist, journalist and violinist. In her early career she also worked as an actress. In January 2020 she suffered an AVM brain haemorrhage and underwent emergency surgery in New York City. She continues to work on her recovery. Early life and career Burton-Hill was born in Hammersmith, London, in 1981, the daughter of Humphrey Burton, the BBC's first head of music and arts, and Gillian Hawser, an agent. The couple did not marry and Burton-Hill grew up, near central London, with her mother, alongside two older half-brothers. She got to know her father only in her twenties, although they became close. She held scholarships at St Paul's Girls' School and Westminster School before reading English at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she took a Double First. Burton-Hill is also a former scholar at the Royal College of Music, where she was the recipient of the Hugh Bean Violin Prize. Broadcasting Burton-Hill began her broadcasting career in 2008 as a member of the live television presenting team at the Proms for BBC Four and BBC Two. She has continued to present at the Proms since then, interviewing major artists including Philip Glass, Joshua Bell, Marin Alsop, Quincy Jones and Daniel Barenboim. Since 2015, she has presented coverage of the Last Night of The Proms. She was the television host of the BBC's biannual competition BBC Young Musician from 2010 to 2018.