“Lizzie Ball lit the place on fire with her solos”  San Francisco Chronicle 

Named as one of the most 50 inspirational women of 2018 by The Daily Mail  ‘Femail at 50’ feature, and awarded an honorary degree from the University of Derby for her services and contribution to classical music, Lizzie is recognised increasingly for her refreshing and unique approach to classical music performance. Her creation of Classical Kicks, a unique brand of energetic reinvigorated classical music shows at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club in London, has seen continued success. She is also known for her solo violin/vocal collaborations with numerous artists such as British violin superstar Nigel Kennedy (as a soloist with him and leader of his Orchestra of Life for 8 years), and legends Jeff Beck and Brian Wilson (as a featured frontline band member), Brit pop legend Bryan Ferry and more recently as lead violin for Ariana Grande and Hugh Jackman. Performance highlights include headlining at Madison Square Garden NY for Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, several critically acclaimed US-wide tours, and directing the historical Palestine Prom for BBC Proms 2013 in the Royal Albert Hall. Her brand new co-production with Producer/Writer/Director Emily Blacksell ‘Corrido-A Ballad for the Brave’a musical and visual storytelling of the life and times of Frida Kahlo received widespread acclaim at its premiere alongside the V and A’s celebrated Frida Kahlo ‘Making Her Self Up’ exhibition last November 2018. 

http://www.lizzieball.com

Callum Au is a professional trombonist, composer, orchestrator, and arranger. Based in London, Callum has worked with some of the UK’s top big bands and orchestras, and has fast made a name for himself as one of the UK’s finest young musicians.

Callum was privileged to be taught in his youth by veteran trumpet player Terry Reaney, pianist Brian Harrison, and top UK jazz trombonist Mark Nightingale. He was a member of Bill Ashton’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra from 2005 – 2010, during which time he played lead trombone and was one of the band’s principal arrangers.

Callum works as a trombonist and principal arranger at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, alongside illustrious bandleader and clarinettist Pete Long. In this post, he has worked with many of the world’s top professional jazz and commercial artists, including Joss Stone, Seth MacFarlane, Jason Robert Brown, Liane Carroll, Tim Minchin, Peter Erskine, and two thirds of the Spice Girls!

Callum is active as a freelance trombonist and has worked with many of the top ensembles in the UK, including the John Wilson Orchestra, Echoes of Ellington, and in the pit of several West End shows. In 2014, he performed at the BBC Proms Battle of the Big Bands in the James Pearson Big Band, where he also contributed several of the arrangements.

As a freelance composer and arranger, Callum has written or arranged music for a huge variety of ensembles and artists, including the BBC Big Band, Jamie Cullum, the RTE Concert Orchestra, Clare Teal, and the Swingle Singers. Callum is in high demand for his orchestration skills, and has arranged music for several major touring shows including ‘Lorna Luft: The Songbook of Judy Garland’, ‘The UK Salutes Frank’, and ‘From Rags to Ritzes: the Irving Berlin Story’. Callum has also arranged and orchestrated a variety of TV, film and library music including the film ‘A Royal Night Out’ starring Emily Watson & Rupert Everett.

In 2014, Callum was selected as one of seven up-and-coming arrangers from around the world to participate in the Metropole Orchestra Arrangers’ Workshop, where he worked with composer/ conductor Vince Mendoza, and vocalist Gregory Porter. Since then, Callum has been invited to work with the Latvian Radio Big Band, in a project arranging the music of J.S. Bach for big band, featuring accordion soloist Ksenija Sidorova.

Callum is the orchestral manager and musical director of the Callum Au Big Band, which features some of the finest jazz musicians in the UK. The band released its debut album ‘Something’s Coming’ in 2012, which featured as its centrepiece a suite of music based on the musical ‘West Side Story’. The band has also worked on an arrangement of George Gershwin’s masterpiece ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, which premiered at Ronnie Scott’s in 2014 and featured pianist James Pearson. Callum also performs with his jazz quintet, co-led by baritone saxophonist Richard Shepherd, and inspired by the Brookmeyer/Mulligan group.

Callum is the trombonist and principal arranger for the ‘Close To You’ ensemble, a collaboration between the acclaimed Tippett Quartet and the James Pearson Quintet. A unique chamber ensemble featuring both jazz and classical elements, this hand-picked group explores the canon of the Great American Songbook, working with top vocalists Matthew Ford, Claire Martin, and Anna-Jane Casey.

In Autumn 2014, Callum was appointed as the guest MD of the Leeds College of Music Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, where he directed the band through his West Side Story Suite for a term. Callum has also directed workshops with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and his arrangements are played in many schools and colleges around the world.

In his free time, Callum likes tropical fish, Asian food, Star Trek, and strategy games.

http://www.callumaumusic.com

Sophia Rahman has recorded concertos with the Scottish Ensemble, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and twenty-five chamber discs for companies including Linn records, cpo, Guild, Naxos, ASV, Dutton/Epoch, Meridian and Resonus.

She has acted as a class pianist for IMS/Prussia Cove for Kim Kashkashian, Atar Arad, Hartmut Rohde and, for the last six years, Steven Isserlis. Since 1994 she has acted as official accompanist for the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, and has also appeared for the Barbirolli International Oboe Competition and the Samling Foundation, as well as the 2013/14 inaugural Australian Cello Awards. She was a class pianist for the last few years of masterclasses given by William Pleeth at the Britten Pears School.

Together with colleagues Robert Plane (clarinet) and Philip Dukes (viola), she was Artist- in-Residence at Queen’s University, Belfast for eight years, where she developed her love of teaching. She is currently a guest-coach on the string Masters programme at the University of Limerick.

Alongside her touring schedule she has given masterclasses at conservatoires throughout the UK and in Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Finland (coaching chamber music at Sibelius Junior Academy), Estonia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. She is also a member of Trittico with John Anderson (oboe) and Nancy Ruffer (flute). She has appeared in recital with Steven Isserlis, Thomas Riebl, distinguished wind players such as Karl Leister and Alex Klein, and also works regularly with her partner, the violinist, violist and conductor Andres Kaljuste.

Sophia Rahman studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Peter Norris, with additional guidance from Vlado Perlemuter and Louis Kentner.

She took a first-class honours degree in English from King’s College, London and completed her piano studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Alexander Kelly and Malcolm Martineau.
She was the winner of the Royal Overseas League’s Accompanist Award and the Liza Fuchsova Memorial Prize for a chamber music pianist in consecutive years.

http://sophiarahman.com

SAMI JUNNONEN (b. 1977 in Tampere, Finland) enjoys a varied and successful career as an internationally acclaimed flute soloist. His virtuosity, musicality, and comfort within a wide and diverse repertoire has led him to collaborate with an impressive mix of celebrated artists, composers and ensembles.

His 2012 Debut Recital at the Helsinki Music Centre of Finland as well as his 2018 solo debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in Texas, U.S. received outstanding reviews. Junnonen officially represented Finland on its centenary of independence by touring in Russia in December 2017.

Junnonen releases music through Resonus Classics, Alba Records, and SibaRecords. He has recorded for the Finnish Broadcasting Company, Radio Television Hong Kong, and Radio New Zealand, as well as for the labels Sony BMG, Bayerische Rundfunk, Naxos, and Ondine. The Complete W.A. Mozart Flute Quartets recorded by Junnonen and Chamber Domaine, and released by Resonus Classics won the Audience Award in The Finnish Album of the Year 2018, promoted by the Finnish Radio Broadcasting Company. Junnonen is a multiple prize winner in international music competitions, and his artistic work has been sponsored by several cultural institutions.

Junnonen has worked as a principal flautist in various orchestras including The Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, UK. He has also worked as a performance teacher in flute and chamber music at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and conducted numerous masterclasses.

Junnonen has been academically trained at the Sibelius Academy, the Conservatoire national musique et danse de Lyon, the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and various masterclasses. He holds a Master of Music with Distinction from the Sibelius Academy, completed in 2008.

Junnonen performs on 24-carat and 14-carat gold flutes, handcrafted by his sponsor,  Muramatsu.

http://www.samijunnonen.com

James Dickenson – Violin I
Tamaki Higashi – Violin II
Carmen Flores – Viola
Nick Stringfellow – Cello 

Named after Villiers Street in London’s colourful musical epicentre, the Villiers Quartet encompasses the grand and iconic spirit of the extraordinary music tradition in Britain.

Hailed as “Champions of British Music” (The Observer), the Villiers Quartet are celebrated for their masterfully sensitive performances. Deemed one of the most charismatic and “adventurous” quartets of the international stage (The Strad), the Villiers Quartet have released acclaimed recordings of works by Elgar, Delius, Peter Racine Fricker, and David Matthews. They released their next disc of chamber music by the English romantic composer William Sterndale Bennett in November 2018. The VQ have been praised for their “exquisite ensemble playing” (Seen & Heard International), and their absolute “committment and virtuosity” (The Sunday Times).

The Villiers Quartet were winners of the Radcliffe Chamber Music Competition in 2015. They hold the position of Quartet-in-Residence at Oxford University’s Faculty of Music.  Their internationally acclaimed VQ New Works Competition, held every two years, encourages audiences to interact with contemporary music performance online, and supports the creation of new works for string quartet.

The Villiers Quartet have presented masterclasses in the UK and abroad at Duke University, Dartmouth College, University of Nottingham, Syracuse University, Jacksonville University, and Indiana University South Bend. The VQ are also Quartet-in-Residence at Nottingham High School, where they direct an extensive chamber music programme for young students and composers. The broad curiosity of the Villiers Quartet and their passion for teaching have made the VQ a valuable resource for students. Inspiration comes from the heart of the Villiers Quartet’s philosophy: to believe in the art of string quartet.

www.villiersquartet.com

The creation of violinist and vocalist Lizzie Ball, Classical Kicks is a unique night of classical music performance which has an exclusive quarterly residency at the world renowned Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho, London. Hailed by Classical Music Magazine as “genre-bending”, Classical Kicks strives to bring the most talented, exciting and also diverse classical artists into the intimate and special space that is Ronnie’s Bar, and to maintain the best quality of musicians and musicianship, but most importantly within a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Classical Kicks also has an adapted touring version of its own unique brand of classical music which has featured in some great UK festivals including Henley, Music in the Garden for Dame Cleo Laine, and a performance for the English Speaking Union. Classical Kicks Records was formed in 2013 as a means to provide further promotion for exciting young artists and new ways of performing classical music, and released its first EP in the same year. Classical Kicks now runs a brand new series running at St.James Studio, which explores themes from opera and song to jazz and whiskey, in a more ensemble focussed bespoke manner, whilst Ronnie’s mash up of different ensembles and bands continues to be the flagship residency.

Previous artists who have performed include Thomas Gould (violin), Martynas Levickis (accordion), Aquinas Piano Trio, Barbara Barradas (soprano), Njabulo Madlala (bartione), Morgan Szymanski (guitar) and Machaca, G Project (cello and percussion), Filip Kowalski (viola), Bernard Gregor-Smith (cello), James Pearson (pianist and Artistic Director at Ronnie Scott’s), Blue Topaz Trio, Navarra Quartet, Sideris Wind Quintet, Una Palliser (viola/vocals), Classico Latino, Eclectica, Thomas Kemp (Violin), Adrian Bradbury (cello) and many more….

Darragh Morgan – Violin

Adi Tal – Cello

Mary Dullea – Piano

The …virtuosic Fidelio Trio… (Sunday Times) are Darragh Morgan, violin, Adi Tal, cello and Mary Dullea, piano.  Shortlisted for the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, the Fidelio Trio are enthusiastic champions of the piano trio genre, performing the widest possible range of repertoire on concert stages across the world; they are broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3, RTÉ Lyric FM, WNYC, NPR and featured on Sky Arts documentaries; they have an impressive list of commissions and first performances from the leading and newest composers and have a large discography of highly acclaimed recordings.

Since their debut at London’s Southbank Centre, they have appeared at the Wigmore Hall and Kings Place, at festivals from Brighton and Cheltenham to St. Magnus, and from Gregynog to Huddersfield. They regularly perform across the Irish Sea at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Kilkenny Festival and Belfast Festival at Queens as well as overseas in Shanghai, Porto, Paris, Venice, Florence, Johannesburg, New York City, Princeton, San Francisco and Boston.

Their extensive discography includes Ravel and Saint-Saëns for Resonus Classics; Philip Glass Head On; Korngold and Schoenberg (Verklärte Nacht arr. Steuermann) for Naxos; the complete Michael Nyman Piano Trios for MN Records; multiple releases on NMC, Delphian Records including portrait CDs for composers such as Luke Bedford and Michael Zev Gordon. Their recent release of French Piano Trios for Resonus was a Gramophone Magazine Critic’s Choice.

Keen to ensure the future development of the piano trio, The Fidelio Trio work closely with composition and performance students at institutions across the UK and all over the world including the Peabody Conservatory, Curtis Institute, NYU, NAFA Singapore, and Stellenbosch Conservatorium South Africa. They have been artists-in-residence at St. Patrick’s College Dublin City University, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and the State University of New York, SUNY.

The Fidelio Trio are constantly commissioning new works, giving first performances, and importantly, further performances to introduce them into the repertory. Composers that the Trio have worked closely with include Toshio Hosokawa, Charles Wuorinen, Johannes Maria Staud, Michael Nyman, Gerald Barry, Donnacha Dennehy, Joe Cutler, Evan Ziporyn, Simon Bainbridge, Judith Weir… to name but few.

Inspirational musicians, The Fidelio Trio have collaborated with include Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Richard Watkins (horn), Joan Rodgers and Patricia Rozario (soprano), Rachel Roberts (viola), and with spoken word, author Alexander McCall Smith and T.S. Eliot prize-winning poet Sinéad Morrissey.

2017/18 saw tours of USA, South Africa, Zimbabwe and China, many festival appearances including a Schubert cycle at Kilkenny Arts Festival. Collaborations included new piano trio commissions from Kevin Volans and Alexander Goehr and a world premiere recording of two works by Philip Glass for his label Orange Mountain. They continued their residency at the National Concert Hall in Dublin; undertook a further tour of China and recordings included Gerald Barry’s Chamber Music for Mode Records and a second instalment of French Piano Trios (Chausson, Fauré and Satie) for Resonus Classics. 2018/19 season sees multiple performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto including with RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, a further USA East Coast tour, a BBC broadcast recital for Spitalfields Festival and multiple CD releases.

They are Artistic Directors of their annual Winter Chamber Music Festival at Belvedere House, Dublin City University and continue to be passionate in their advocacy for the piano trio across the world.

http://fideliotrio.com

Hugh has worked extensively in the contemporary music field and Javier Alvarez, Robert Keeley, Paul Archbold and Ian Dearden have all written solo works for him, with funding from The Arts Council of England. Classical CD recordings include Bax’s Concerto for Flute, Oboe and Harp with the Academy of St. Martin’s Chamber Ensemble (Chandos), a collection of Bach Flute Sonatas (Guild), Villalobos’ Quartet (Clarinet Classics), Bax’s Fantasy Sonata (Koch International) and the complete Spohr Violin and Harp Sonatas (Naxos).  His most recent recordings are a CD of French Renaissance songs with the medieval group, Joglaresa and a recording of solo and chamber music by Nino Rota for Zitto Records.  From 2001 to 2012, Hugh Webb was principal harp of the Philharmonia Orchestra and now freelances as guest principal of the major London orchestras and is active in the film and television music worlds.

Hugh has composed a show for children based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen.

“…filigree or glitter, arpeggios or runs, virtuosity or sheer feeling, Webb is master of them all.”  

The Gramophone

Ilan Eshkeri is an award winning British composer whose work uses multiple disciplines in various fields of art. Composer, songwriter, producer and conductor, Eshkeri’s work is performed in concert halls, theatres, galleries and on film & television; his eclectic body of work is linked by his love of narrative.

His diverse portfolio is appealing to creative people from all walks of life, allowing him to work on a multitude of different projects. This year Ilan has co-created two ballets; ‘Symbiosis’ with acclaimed choreographer Andonis Foniadakis for the Rambert Dance Company and ‘Narcissus and Echo’, choreographed by famed dancer Sergei Polunin with set designs by photographer David LaChapelle. Eshkeri was also commissioned by Burberry for their game-changing autumn 2016 fashion show in London, where he conducted his choral symphonic suite Reliquary, which subsequently reached no. 1 in the classical chart. Before this he created music for British astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia mission to the International Space Station.

Eshkeri has collaborated with Annie Lennox on a live orchestral show of her songs, David Gilmour on his solo record ‘On an Island’, written a song for Sinead O’Connor, and worked with other rock bands and pop stars including KT Tunstall, Tom Odell, Ash and The Cinematic Orchestra, as well as avant-garde electronic artist Amon Tobin re-composing the electronic music for symphony orchestra, performed to a sold out Royal Albert Hall. Eshkeri composed a symphonic tone poem about a Korean artist for the Louvre in Paris, and conducted the work to projected visuals of the art to thousands in the gardens of the Louvre. He has collaborated with infamous British art duo Jake & Dinos Chapman, legendary naturalist David Attenborough, and fashion brands, dancers and astronauts.

Amongst his extensive catalogue of film & television are multiple Oscar & BAFTA winning films such as Still Alice, The Young Victoria and Shaun The Sheep. Eshkeri has been nominated for an Ivor Novello, as well as nominated for a BAFTA for The Snowman & The Snowdog, where he co-wrote the hit ‘Light The Night’.

Eshkeri is signed to Globe, a division of Universal Records.

https://www.ilaneshkeri.com

For over 30 years, four-time Oscar nominee Danny Elfman, has established himself as one of the most versatile and accomplished film composers in the industry. He has collaborated with directors such as Tim Burton, Gus Van Sant, Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, Ang Lee, Rob Minkoff, Guillermo del Toro, Brian De Palma, James Ponsoldt and David O’ Russell. Beginning with his first score on Tim Burton’s Pee- wee’s Big Adventure, Elfman has scored over 100 films, including:  Milk (Oscar nominated), Good Will Hunting (Oscar nominated), Big Fish (Oscar nominated), Men in Black (Oscar nominated), Edward Scissorhands, Batman, To Die For, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Spiderman, A Simple Plan, Midnight Run, Sommersby, Dolores Claiborne, and the Errol Morris documentaries The Unknown Known, and Standard Operating Procedure.  Most recently he has provided the music for, Warner Bros. Justice League, and Gus Van Sant’s Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot. He is currently working on the upcoming Tim Burton film Dumbo for Disney, and The Grinch for Universal.

A native of Los Angeles, Elfman grew up loving film music. He travelled the world as a young man, absorbing its musical diversity. He helped found the band Oingo Boingo, and came to the attention of a young Tim Burton, who asked him to write the score for Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. 34 years later, the two have forged one of the most fruitful composer-director collaborations in film history. In addition to his film work, Elfman wrote the iconic theme music for the television series The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives.

Elfman has expanded his writing to composing orchestral concert works which include: Serenada Schizophrana, a symphony commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2005, Rabbit and Rogue, for the American Ballet Theater choreographed by Twyla Tharp, performed at The Metropolitan Opera house in 2008, and Iris for Cirque du Soleil directed by French choreographer Philippe Decouflé.  In 2011, Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton live orchestral concert, premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, and has since toured around the world and won two Emmys.

In 2017 Elfman premiered his first Violin Concerto in Prague, which was performed by Sandy Cameron with John Mauceri and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.  In 2018, his first Piano Quartet commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet premiered as part of a US tour by the group.  Both works will be released on a Sony Classical album in 2019.

“I need to push myself into new territory with fresh challenges as much as I can and whenever I can. I am told I have a recognizable style but my greatest pleasure is when I can surprise the audience with my music.”

https://www.fabermusic.com/composers/elfman-danny

David Juritz is one of the most versatile violinists currently working in the UK, dividing his time between solo performances, directing, chamber music, working as guest leader with many of Britain’s finest orchestra and leading his own group, the London Tango Quintet.

David Juritz was born in Cape Town, South Africa and, after winning a scholarship from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, came to London to study at the Royal College of Music with Hugh Bean and Jaroslav Vanecek. During his time at the RCM he won all the major prizes for violin including the college’s highest award, the Tagore Gold Medal.

On leaving the RCM he joined the English Chamber Orchestra. From 1991 to 2010 he was the leader of the London Mozart Players, the longest serving leader in that orchestra’s history. He made many appearances as soloist and director with the LMP, including his debut at the 2006 BBC Promenade Concerts.

He has directed the Royal Philharmonic, Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Mozart Festival Orchestra as well as many other ensembles. From 2010 to 2012 he directed the Johann Strauss Orchestra on nationwide tours to widespread acclaim.

In 2010 he was invited to become one of the inaugural members of the Quartet of Peace,playing on instruments dedicated to South Africa’s four Nobel Peace Prize winners, in a series of concerts in Cape Town, Leipzig, Liverpool, London and Paris. Other recent performances have included appearances as soloist and director at the Tonhalle in Zurich, performances of the Beethoven and Brahms violin concertos with the Shin Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, the Tchaikovsky concerto with the London Concert Orchestra at the Barbican, the world premiere of ‘Tales from South America’, a new tango concerto written for him by Cecilia McDowall and concerts directing the Szczecin Philharmonic in Poland.

His recording of the Vivaldi Four Seasons, re-released by Nimbus Alliance in 2012, has been widely hailed by critics as one of the finest interpretations of that much-recorded work. David’s recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, released on the same label in May 2011, was also warmly received by the music press.

In 2005 he took on the role of director of the Burton Bradstock Festival in Dorset. In 2007 he took a five-month sabbatical to busk around the world. On the 60,000 mile journey through 50 cities in 24 countries on six continents, he paid for the entire journey with his busking earnings by playing Bach on the streets. He used the trip to launch Musequality, a charity supporting music education projects for disadvantaged children in developing countries. He remains deeply committed to encouraging young musicians in the developing world. In 2011 he travelled to Kurdistan to spend two weeks coaching young musicians of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.

David plays on a violin made by J.B. Guadagnini in Piacenza in 1748.

http://www.davidjuritz.com

“Unburdened by ideology and technical schemata, Goehr’s works fly free of their conceptualisation with the energy of pure artistic discovery. What he most values in his technical devices is an ability to throw up felicities of part-writing or reiterative rhythm which may be cultivated for their independent strangeness and beauty. Such trouvailles lend his music a very personal flavour even as they unlock the fragrance of the past.” Paul Driver 2009

Alexander Goehr, composer and teacher, was born in Berlin on 10 August 1932, son of the conductor Walter Goehr, and was brought to England in 1933. He studied with Richard Hall at the Royal Manchester College of Music (where together with Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and John Ogdon he formed the New Music Manchester Group) and with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod in Paris. 

In the early 60’s he worked for the BBC and formed the Music Theatre Ensemble, the first ensemble devoted to what has become an established musical form. From the late 1960’s onwards he taught at the New England Conservatory Boston, Yale, Leeds and in 1975 was appointed to the chair of the University of Cambridge, where he remains Emeritus Professor. He has also taught in China and has twice been Composer-in-residence at Tanglewood.

He has written five operas: Arden Must Die, Hamburg 1967; Behold the Sun, Deutsche Oper 1985; Arianna, lost opera by Monteverdi, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1995; Kantan & Damask Drum, Theater Dortmund September 1999; Promised End, derived from King Lear, London 2010; and a music theatre Triptych (1968-70). His orchestral works include four symphonies, concerti for piano, violin, viola and cello and other orchestral compositions, which have been commissioned and performed by major organisations and leading conductors. He had a particularly  close working relationship with Oliver Knussen, who has premiered and recorded several works. 

Many of his works have been commissioned by the BBC and feature regularly at the Proms. The year of Goehr’s appointment at Cambridge coincided with a turning point in his output with the composition of a white-note setting of Psalm IV. The simple, bright modal sonority of this piece marked a final departure from post-war serialiasm and a commitment to a more transparent soundworld. 

Goehr found a way of controlling harmonic pace by fusing his own modal harmonic idiom with the long abandoned practice of figured bass—thus achieving a highly idiosyncratic fusion of past and present. The output of the ensuing twenty years testifies to Goehr’s desire to use this new idiom to explore ideas and genres that had already become constant features of his work, such as the exploration of symphonic form (Sinfonia (1979), Symphony with Chaconne (1985-86), Eve Dreams in Paradise (1987-88), Colossos or Panic (1991-92). However these years’ output is also characterised by a number of ambitious vocal scores. 

A common feature of many of the vocal compositions of these years is the choice of subjects that function as allegories for reflection upon socio-political themes: The Death of Moses (1992); the cantata Babylon the Great is Fallen (1979) and the opera Behold the Sun (1985). But there are also non-political works: the cantata Sing, Ariel (1989-90), that recalls Messiaen’s stylized birdsong and sets a kaleidoscope of English poetry, and the opera Arianna (1995), written on a Rinuccini libretto for a lost opera by Monteverdi, is an exploration of the soundworld of Italian Renaissance.

After productions of his opera Kantan & Damask Drum (1997-98) in Dortmund and London, Goehr devoted himself almost exclusively to chamber music. Through the chamber music medium Goehr gains an unprecedented rhythmic and harmonic immediacy, while his music remains ever permeable by the music and imagery of other times and places. A series of quintets for different combinations began with Five Objects Darkly (1996) and grew with a Piano Quintet (2000); …around Stravinsky for violin and wind (2002); a Clarinet Quintet(2007); and most recently, from 2008, Since Brass nor Stone… for string quartet and percussion (2008), a memorial to Pavel Haas. The set of piano pieces Symmetries Disorder Reach (2007) is a barely disguised baroque suite; Marching to Carcassonne (2003) flirts with neoclassicism and Stravinsky, and Manere for violin and clarinet (2008), based on a fragment of medieval plainchant, is a typical foray into the art of musical ornament.

Goehr returned to the operatic medium with the opera Promised End (2008-09), based on Shakespeare’s King Lear, performed in 2010 by English Touring Opera. And there has been more orchestral music: TurmMusik (2009-10), with Nigel Robson and the BBC Philharmonic conducted by HK Gruber, and When Adam Fell (2011-12), commissioned by the BBC to celebrate his 80th birthday, with the BBC Symphony conducted by Oliver Knussen. His most recent work, To these sad steps (20011-12), to texts by Gabriel Levin, was premiered by Christopher Gillett and BCMG conducted by Oliver Knussen in September 2012.

Alexander Goehr is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a former Churchill Fellow, and the 1987 BBC Reith Lecturer. His archive is curated by the Berlin Akademie der Künste. Much of Goehr’s music is available on the NMC label, the latest release comprising Colossos or Panic, Little Symphony and The Deluge, conducted by Oliver Knussen. A new disc of orchestral music was released by Naxos in February 2013. Collections of his writings can be found in ‘Finding the Key’ (Faber & Faber 1998), and in ‘Fings ain’t wot they used t’be’ (Berlin Akademie der Künste and Wolke-Archive 2012). Discs of orchestral music on Naxos and chamber music on NMC were released in 2013 and further recordings are planned on Resonus.

https://en.schott-music.com/shop/autoren/alexander-goehr

Born in 1994 in Barañáin (Navarra), Iñigo gained his Bachelor Degree in Music from the Conservatory of Music in Navarra with Nekane Iturrioz and his Master of Arts and Advanced Diploma degrees at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Professor Owen Murray. He has taken part in concert series and festivals in Spain and the United Kingdom, including the BBC Proms, Adelburgh, Froome and Spitafields festivals (UK), “La noche en blanco” (Cádiz) and the Accordion Cultural Week (Zarauz), as well as performing in venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Union Chapel, St. James’s Piccadilly (London), St David’s Hall (Cardiff), Glyndebourne Opera House, Colston Hall (Bristol) and Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre (York). He has also assisted in various courses and masterclasses taught by renowned accordionists and musicians, including Friedrich Lips, Matti Rantanen, James Crabb, Mie Miki, Magnus Lindberg, Claudio Jacomucci, Javier López Jaso, Miguel Ituarte, Alexey Artemyev, Antonio Serrano and Javier Colina.

Iñigo enjoys collaboration with contemporary composers, which has led to the première of new works for solo accordion, chamber music (with different ensembles and instruments) and accordion and orchestra. A highlight has been the première of David Johnstone’s ‘Concert for accordion and orchestra’, with the orchestra of the Professional Conservatory Pablo Sarasate, and Tiento IV by Xabier Sarasa, with the orchestra of the Conservatory of Music of Navarra. He has also participated in projects such as ‘Música Visible’, SIGNUM, MARTIROlógika (together with the Garaikideak Contemporary Music Centre), and several ‘Composers Projects‘ at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

He is member of the Diphonon Duo, along with violist Michael Iskas and the Duo Giuliano-Mikeleiz with cellist Daryl Giuliano. He also performs with “Unicorn Frequency”, a six piece band led by Romanian violinist Bogdan Vacarescu that plays Eastern-European music mixed with classical and jazz styles. Among the instrumental ensembles he has collaborated with are the Philharmonia Orchestra (under Vladimir Ashkenazy), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Glyndebourne Youth Opera, Deco and Riot Ensembles and Belsize Opera.

http://inigomikeleiz.com

Jon Carnac regularly plays Guest Principal Clarinet with the country’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and 10 Downing Street with ensembles including London Winds, Soloists Of The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia Orchestra and the Belcea Quartet. He frequently broadcasts as a chamber musician and soloist on BBC Radio 2 and 3.

Jon’s commercial experience includes film scores, jingles and recordings with John Williams, Howard Shore, Burt Bacharach, Michel Legrand, Howard Goodall, Howard Blake, Jerry Goldsmith, Barrington Pheloung, Karl Jenkins, Wynton Marsalis and The White Stripes.

Jon is a passionate Arsenal fan, and holds a Season ticket for the Emirates Stadium!

Steven Devine enjoys a busy career as a music director and keyboard player working with some of the finest musicians and was recently praised in The Gramophone for “fantastic touch and élan.”

He is the Co-Principal keyboard player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and also the principal keyboard player for The Gonzaga Band, Apollo and Pan, The Classical Opera Company and performs regularly with many other groups around Europe. 

He has recorded over thirty discs with other artists and ensembles and made six solo recordings. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Chandos Records) has been received critical acclaim – including Gramophone magazine describing it as “among the best”. The complete harpsichord works of Rameau (Resonus) has received five-star reviews from BBC Music Magazine and Steven’s latest recording of Bach’s Italian Concerto has been voted Classic FM’s Connoisseur’s choice. Future releases for Resonus include the Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach.

He made his London conducting debut in 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall and is now a regular performer there – including making his Proms directing debut in August 2007 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has conducted the Mozart Festival Orchestra in every major concert hall in the UK and also across Switzerland. Steven is Music Director for New Chamber Opera in Oxford and with them has performed repertoire from Cavalli to Rossini. For the Dartington Festival Opera he has conducted Handel’s Orlando and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He is currently conductor and Artistic Advisor for the English Haydn Festival in Bridgnorth.

Steven works regularly with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Trondheim Barokk, the Victoria Baroque Players (BC, Canada) and Arion Baroque Ensemble (Montreal).

He teaches harpsichord and fortepiano at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London and is Early Keyboard Consultant to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Royal Welsh Colleges.

“One cannot ignore the immensely intelligent and impeccably placed keyboard continuo work of Steven Devine.” International Record Review

www.stevendevine.com

Sholto Kynoch is a sought-after pianist who specialises in song and chamber music. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Oxford Lieder Festival, which won a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2015, cited for its ‘breadth, depth and audacity’ of programming. In July 2018, Sholto was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in the RAM Honours.

Recent recitals have taken him to Wigmore Hall, Heidelberger Frühling in Germany, the Zeist International Lied Festival in Holland, the LIFE Victoria festival and Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Opéra de Lille, Kings Place in London, Piano Salon Christophori in Berlin and many other leading venues nationally and internationally. He has performed with singers including Louise Alder, Benjamin Appl, Sophie Daneman, Tara Erraught, Robert Holl, James Gilchrist, Dietrich Henschel, Katarina Karnéus, Wolfgang Holzmair, Jonathan Lemalu, Stephan Loges, Daniel Norman, Christoph Prégardien, Joan Rodgers, Kate Royal, Birgid Steinberger, Anna Stéphany and Mark Stone, amongst many others.

Together with violinist Jonathan Stone and cellist Christian Elliott, Sholto is the pianist of the Phoenix Piano Trio, an ensemble that has been praised for creating a ‘musical narrative of tremendous, involving depth’. In recent years, he has curated several series of recitals at the National Gallery, including their ‘Monet and Architecture’ exhibition in 2018. He has recorded, live at the Oxford Lieder Festival, the first complete edition of the songs of Hugo Wolf. Other recordings include discs of Schubert and Schumann lieder, the complete songs of John Ireland and Havergal Brian with baritone Mark Stone, a recital disc with Anna Stéphany, and several CDs with the Phoenix Trio.

http://www.sholtokynoch.com

Gabriella Swallow has emerged as one of the most versatile and exciting cellists of her generation. She studied at The Royal College of Music with Jerome Pernoo. She was awarded the coveted Tagore Gold Medal and performed the Hugh Wood Cello Concerto in her final year. As a soloist, Gabriella went on to make her South Bank debut with the London Sinfonietta in the world premiere of ‘About Water’ by Mark-Anthony Turnage. In the same year she performed Paul Max Edlin’s Cello Concerto with the South Bank Sinfonia, which firmly launched her place as a leading performer of contemporary music. This has led her to commission and work with many of the major living Composers of today.

In 2013 she made her Wigmore Hall debut with the soprano Ruby Hughes and in the same season performed at the La Jolla SummerFest in San Diego, the Aldeburgh Festival with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the Cambridge Jazz Festival as a member of the Gwilym Simcock Quintet.

Gabriella is the string curator of Music Orbit’s string night ‘Strung Out’ and performs frequently at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club ‘Classical Kicks’ night curated by violinist Lizzie Ball and at Gabriel Prokofiev’s Nonclassical club nights. As a recording artist, she has recorded all the chamber music of Hugh Wood for Toccata Classics with the London Archduke Piano Trio, which was released to critical acclaim in 2009. 2012 saw the release of ‘Ivr d’amour’, a disc of Massenet Songs where she appeared with soprano Sally Silver and celebrated pianist Richard Bonynge for the Guild label and also soprano Lucy Shaufer’s debut disc ‘Carpentersville’ for ABC Classics where Gabriella features as a soloist. This CD was launched with a concert at The Aldeburgh Festival 2013.

In 2010 she co founded the duo ‘G Project’ with percussionist Genevieve Wilkins. They made their debut with a sellout concert at the Forge in Camden and continue to perform regularly in the UK and Europe. Alongside her classical career she regularly crosses over in the fields of jazz and pop and is a sought after session musician appearing on many movie and television scores. She has recorded with many of the leading Jazz musicians on the UK scene including Ian Shaw, Barb Jungr, Liane Carroll, Guy Barker, Laurence Cottle, Pedro Segundo, Graeme Flowers, Jannette Mason and Claire Martin OBE. She has performed and recorded with Skunk Anansie, Sade, Dionne Warwick, Charlotte Church and has been a member of Judith Owen’s band since 2007.

This year she continues her collaboration with Gwilym Simcock’s Quintet, whose members include the violinist Thomas Gould, on a UK tour beginning at King’s Place, London. Gabriella is also a passionate broadcaster and arts commentator and has been a regular guest on BBC 4’s coverage of The Proms, Radio 3’s In Tune and Music Matter. She has been a guest speaker at the Bath Literary Festival and The Battle of Ideas.

Gabriella plays a cello by Charles Harris Senior built in 1820 and an electric cello by Starfish Designs.

https://www.gabriellaswallow.com/about

Winner of First Prize at the 2016 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and an Associate Artist of Classical Opera, Alessandro Fisher is a member of the BBC New Generation Artist Scheme. He read read Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge, where he was a Choral Scholar at Clare College, furthering his studies at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

His operatic engagements have included Don Ottavio Don Giovanni for the Sinfonia d’Amici, Don Polidoro La finta semplice and Christian The First Commandment for Classical Opera, First Armed Man / Priest Die Zauberflöte for Garsington Opera at West Green House, Bellecourt Vert Vert for Garsington Opera, the title role Dardanus and the B Minor Mass for English Touring Opera, Law Student in Matthew Rogers’ And London Burned for the Temple Church and Count Bandiera in Salieri’s La scuola de’ gelosi for Bampton Classical Opera. For Glyndebourne Opera’s Jerwood Project, he sang Banquo in Luke Styles’ Macbeth for at Glyndebourne and in the Linbury Studio Theatre of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

He appeared in Jonathan Miller’s production of the St Matthew Passion at the National Theatre and was featured on BBC Radio 3’s Spirit of Schubert with Graham Johnson. Concert engagements have further included Evangelist St John Passion at Milton Court, Handel Dixit Dominus andMessiah at the Jesuitenkirche, Innsbruck, Testo Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda for Andrew Lawrence-King and The Wallace Collection, Roussel’s Evocations with the BBC Philharmonic, Stravinsky’s Mass with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall, recitals at the English Song Festival, the Oxford Lieder Festival, the Wigmore Hall and Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery and BBC Radio 3’s Big Chamber Day.

Alessandro Fisher sang Delmiro / Alindo Hipermestra at the 2017 Glyndebourne Festival and made his debut at the 2018 Salzburg Festival as Lucano / First Soldier L’Incoronazione di Poppea. He makes his BBC Proms debut this Summer and his current engagements further include Fabio Berenice for the Royal Opera, London, Bastien Bastien und Bastienne for Classical Opera, Fenton Falstaff for The Grange Festival, Britten’s War Requiem in Lincoln Cathedral, Roussel’sEvocations with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, The Complete Songs of Clara Schumann at St John’s, Smith Square, and recitals for Leeds Lieder as well as at the Buxton and Cheltenham Festivals. At the Oxford Lieder Festival, he appears in An Italian Songbook and Schubert Abroad, whilst for Retrospect Opera he will record Harlequin in Ethel Smyth’s Fête Galante with Lontano conducted by Odaline de la Martinez.

His recordings include Theodore in Edward Loder’s Raymond and Agnes with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Richard Bonynge for Retrospect Opera, Bastien und Bastienne with Classical Opera conducted by Ian Page on Signum CD (Nominated for a 2019 International Classical Music Award) and Roussel’s Evocations with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Yan-Pascal Tortelier on Chandos CD.

http://www.alessandrofisher.com

Coming from a pedigree of British jazz musicians to have passed through the Guildhall School of Music, Iain Mackenzie is one of the most in demand jazz, lounge and big band singers in the UK. Performing with world class orchestras and big bands, including those of the BBC and RTE, Iain is currently the principal male vocalist for the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra, and leader of the Ronnie Scott’s Singers – The iTones.

You may know Iain from his collaborations with Club Des Belugas, Tape Five and JoJo Effect. Having co-written and recorded close to 100 tracks with these giants of Lounge, NuJazz and Electro Swing, his tracks have been released on over 100 compilation albums.

Iain’s voice can be heard featuring on a vast amount of publicity and adverts on TV, radio and online. He has also worked widely with vocal harmony groups including Voxtet, The Magnets, The New London Jazz Voices and with jazz legends Kenny Wheeler and Abdullah Ibrahim. Other credits include Sandie Shaw, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Susan Boyle, Joss Stone and Mica Paris…

Iain is looking forward to another UK tour with Brendan Cole (ex-‘Strictly Come Dancing’) Show Man – touring again from February 2020.

“Iain Mackenzie is a star…awesome ears, technique and delivery.” Claire Martin OBE

http://www.iainmackenzie.co.uk

Violinist Tom Pigott-Smith was a Scholar at the Royal College of Music where he studied under Itzhak Rashkovsky winning all the major prizes. On leaving, Tom went on to win the Myra Hess Award, enabling him to make his Debut at the Wigmore Hall to critical acclaim. He has since played at countless Music Festivals as recitalist not only in standard repertoire but giving World Premieres by composers including Huw Watkins (Tom’s duo partner for several years), Judith Bingham, Jean Sibelius and Anthony Payne whose Storm Chorale was commissioned for and dedicated to him.

Tom continues to perform regularly, leading several ensembles including Continuum and Chamber Domaine with whom he has recently performed Bach Double and Sibelius’ Suite for Violin and Orchestra at Music@Malling.  As well as regular chamber music including leading Errollyn Wallen’s Ensemble X in recordings and live, Tom often sits guest principal in major orchestras (recently RPO on tour with Zuckerman and several operas at ENO.) Tom has guest led the Heritage Orchestra at the Barbican, The Syd Lawrence Orchestra and regularly leads the RPCO. He has also been lucky enough to lead orchestras live for Shirley Bassey, Squeeze, Kylie, Jeff Beck, Sparks and many others.

In 2006 Tom translated several of Pablo Neruda’s poems which he then set to arrangements of music by Astor Piazzolla for the concert which reopened the Union Chapel, Islington. The poems were read by Charles Dance and the music performed by Tom’s group, Soundstage. The programme has been performed several times with success.

Tom continues to enjoy a very wide ranging career in all spheres of musical life.

“Full of passion… I’m sure he’ll make a great impact” (London Debut, Wigmore Hall) The Strad

“The violinist, Tom Pigott-Smith, was relaxed and assured, especially in his sublime slow movement. His crisp
account of the finale concluded an outstanding interpretation…” (Beethoven Violin Concerto, St. Georges Brandon
Hill) Bristol Evening Post

“A wonderful performance” (Sibelius Concerto, Israel) Shlomo Mintz

“One of the most talented young violinists I have ever heard ” Itzhak Rashkovsky, RCM

“A fearsome test of technique which seemed to offer no problems to the soloist” (Sibelius Concerto, Isle of Wight) IW press

“The playing was exquisite and full of eloquence… Credit is due to all concerned” (Piazzolla/ Neruda, Union Chapel) Classical Source

Charles Dance, OBE  is an actor, screenwriter, and film director.

Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. Some of his most high-profile roles are Tywin Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones, Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Sardo Numspa in The Golden Child (1986), Jonathan Clemens in Alien 3 (1992), Benedict in Last Action Hero (1993), the Master Vampire in Dracula Untold (2014), Lord Havelock Vetinari in Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal (2010), Alastair Denniston in The Imitation Game (2014), and Emperor Emhyr var Emreis in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015).

Dance was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company during the mid-to-late 1970s and was in many of their productions in London and Stratford-upon-Avon. Later he returned to the RSC to take the title role in Coriolanus at Stratford-upon-Avon and Newcastle in 1989, and at the Barbican Theatre in 1990. He received rave reviews and a Critics’ Circle Best Actor award for his performance as the Oxford don C. S. Lewis in William Nicholson’s Shadowlands, in the 2007 stage revival.

Dance made his screen debut in 1974, in the ITV series Father Brown as Commandant Neil O’Brien in “The Secret Garden”, but his big break came ten years later when he played the major role of Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown (Granada Television, Christopher Morahan 1984), an adaptation of Paul Scott’s novels that also made stars of Geraldine James and Art Malik. He appeared in Paris Connections (2010) as the Russian oligarch Aleksandr Borinski. Dance made one of his earliest big screen appearances in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only as evil henchman Claus. Though he turned down the opportunity to screen test for the James Bond role, in 1989 he played Bond creator Ian Fleming in Anglia Television’s dramatised biography directed by Don Boyd, Goldeneye (the name of Fleming’s estate in Jamaica and a title later used for a James Bond film).

He has also starred in many other British television dramas such as Edward the Seventh (as dissolute Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, Edward VII’s oldest son, and heir to the throne), Murder Rooms, Randall and Hopkirk, Rebecca, The Phantom of the Opera, Fingersmith and Bleak House (for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie). He was name-checked in the British comedy series Absolutely Fabulous, as being slated to play the title character in The Life of Jesus Christ 2, which was filming in Morocco at the same time as the main characters of the series were there for a photo shoot. He also played Guy Spencer, the pro-Hitler propagandist, in the second instalment of Foyle’s War, and had an ongoing role as Dr. Maltravers in the ITV drama Trinity.

Dance made a guest appearance on the BBC drama series Merlin as the Witchfinder Aredian,  and as a vainglorious version of himself in the third series of Jam & Jerusalem.  He played Havelock Vetinari in the 2010 Sky adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal.  He played the role of Tywin Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin. Dance was wooed for the role by the producers while filming Your Highness in Belfast. He also played Conrad Knox on the British television series Strike Back: Vengeance as the primary villain in the series.

On 30 June 2013, Dance appeared with other celebrities in an episode of the BBC’s Top Gear as a “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” for the debut of the Vauxhall Astra.  Also starred in First Born. A BBC 1 mini series aired in 1988

Dance’s debut film as a writer and director was Ladies in Lavender (2004), which starred Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. In 2009, he directed his own adaptation of Alice Thomas Ellis’s The Inn at the Edge of the World.

Thomas Kemp is an acclaimed conductor renowned for his innovative programming, extensive
knowledge of repertoire and passionate advocacy in concerts, opera, ballet and recording. The
Guardian recently commented “…an extraordinary performance… with a fluency that came over
brilliantly under the baton of Thomas Kemp.”

Thomas is the Music Director of Chamber Domaine, which is at the forefront of ensembles focusing
on 20th and 21st century music. He has directed Chamber Domaine in festivals and concert
series in the UK, Europe and North America including Edinburgh, Cheltenham, City of London,
Huddersfield Contemporary, Wien Modern, The Proms, Aldeburgh, Vale of Glamorgan, Kuhmo and
Brighton Festivals. The ensemble has made regular appearances at Wigmore Hall, South Bank
Centre and have had residencies at Bargemusic, New York; The Schoenberg Centre, Vienna; The
Victoria and Albert Museum and Gresham College, London. Thomas has a distinguished discography
with the ensemble including world premiere recordings of Benjamin Britten, Frank Bridge,
Arthur Bliss, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Arvo Part, Henrik Gorecki, Ned Rorem and Judith Bingham.
The Times recently praised the ensemble for its “superb artistry…with pungent playing from Chamber Domaine under the baton of Thomas Kemp.”

Thomas is an award winning recording artist for Resonus and releases for 2019 include recordings
of Jean Sibelius, Richard Strauss, Judith Weir and Alexander Goehr. His recent recording of the
Mozart Flute Quartets was an award winner in YLE Recording of the Year 2018.

Thomas is regularly in demand as a guest conductor with orchestras and ensembles in the UK and
Europe and is an acclaimed exponent of late nineteenth and early 20th century repertoire. Recent
engagements include concerts in the UK, Europe and Asia with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducting the 1926 film version of Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier.

He was a featured artist at the Oxford Lieder Festival conducting Mahler and Strauss with the OAE. The Spectator commented “It’s supremely, exhaustingly virtuosic writing…the OAE and Thomas
Kemp gave their all, delivering salon-Strauss with half the orchestral fat but no real loss of flavour.”Seen and Heard praised the performances for their “marvellous sweep.” The critical edition of Der Rosenkavalier prepared for these ground-breaking performances will be published in 2020 by Schott. Thomas will then be working on the critical edition of Korngold – A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Engagements in 2019/20, include a UK and European tour of Stravinsky – The Soldiers Tale with
Chamber Domaine and a new work by James Pearson – Artistic Director of Ronnie Scotts – to mark its centenary.

In Spring 2019, Thomas toured Ireland with the RTE Symphony Orchestra to great acclaim. Bachtrack commented: “Kemp kept a tight rein on the orchestra with sharp rhythmic drive…beautifully shaped and poised.”

He has collaborated with leading artists including Toby Spence, Dietrich Henschel, Sarah Fulgoni, Nicky Spence, Sir Anish Kapoor, Craig Ogden, Edward Fox, Louise Alder, Charles Dance, Helen Lederer, Sally Matthews, Elizabeth Llewellyn, Yeree Suh and Andrew Staples and has given numerous world and territorial premieres including Judith Weir, Thomas Ades, Judith Bingham, Charlotte Bray, Arvo Part, Ned Rorem, David Horne, Huw Watkins and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

He made his operatic debut in a new production of Cosi fan tutte for Opera Holland Park with the
City of London Sinfonia to widespread praise. “Cosi fan tutte was conducted with real shape and
nuance by Thomas Kemp…Altogether this was the most original and idiomatic attempt on this ungraspable work London has seen in a long time.” Opera Now.

Thomas is the Artistic Director and Founder of Music@Malling – an international festival that promotes the works of contemporary composers alongside masterworks from the Classical and Romantic periods.
Founded in 2011, the festival is held each September in historic venues in and around West
Malling, Kent and has a year around outreach programme that engages hundreds of young people
in creative activities from across the county. Music@Malling was recently featured in the
annual international roundup of The Best Classical Concerts in The Artsdesk.

From 1989-92, Thomas read music at St.Catharine’s College, Cambridge and went on to study violin
and chamber music at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester where from 2000-2014
he worked as a professor. He has given masterclasses and conducted ensembles in conservatoires
and universities worldwide.

From 2003-2007, he studied conducting at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm with Jorma Panula, Paul Magi and Alan Gilbert winning the prestigious conducting award from The Swedish Academy.

Thomas has enjoyed an international career as a soloist, guest concertmaster, and chamber musician with many renowned orchestras and ensembles and has led many recording sessions for TV
and film in London. The Strad recently commented: “He displays a remarkable variety of tone in
playing that’s lyrical yet assertive, and there’s a real sense of sincerity to his glowing interpretations.”

http://www.thomaskemp.eu

Since his critically acclaimed concerto debut at the age of ten, the award-winning English ’cellist Richard Harwood has performed concerti and chamber music in major venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall, all of the South Bank Centre venues, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Thomaskirche (Leipzig), Auditorium du Louvre (Paris) and Alice Tully Hall / Lincoln Center (New York).

As concerto soloist, Richard has collaborated with conductors such as John Wilson, Okko Kamu, Marko Letonja, Douglas Bostock, En Shao, Shuntaro Sato, David Parry and Yehudi Menuhin, and with numerous orchestras including The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, RTÉ Concert, Auckland Philharmonia and the Ural Philharmonic.

As chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Jerusalem and Endellion Quartets, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Olivier Charlier, Benjamin Schmid, Alena Baeva, Ilya Gringolts, Pekka Kuusisto, Vilde Frang, Chen Halevi, Julian Bliss, Martin Roscoe, Finghin Collins, Ashley Wass, Gottlieb Wallisch and Julius Drake, among others.

Richard’s discography includes a critically acclaimed debut disc for EMI Classics, recorded with pianist Christoph Berner, and Composing Without The Picture, a 2013 . solo album of concert works written by film composers, on Resonus. Richard’s recording of Christopher Gunning’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released in June 2016. In addition, Richard can be seen and heard in Phil Grabsky’s 2009 documentary In Search of Beethoven.

Richard began his studies with Joan Dickson, before continuing with other eminent teachers such as Steven Doane, David Waterman, Heinrich Schiff (University of Music and Dramatic Art, Vienna) and Ralph Kirshbaum (Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester). He complemented his studies by taking master classes and lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, Janos Starker, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Miklós Perényi, Bernard Greenhouse, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartet), William Pleeth, Zara Nelsova and Ferenc Rados.

Richard plays a ‘cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.

http://www.richardharwood.com

Adrian read Veterinary Science and Music at Churchill College, Cambridge before further study at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) and in Berlin.

He has since developed an international career in chamber music as the cellist in Composers Ensemble (winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Award, 2002), Jane’s Minstrels, Trio Gemelli, Touchwood Piano Quartet and Chamber Domaine, involving regular appearances at major festivals all over Europe together with a busy recording and broadcasting schedule.

He also collaborates with neuroscientist Professor Alan Wing to carry out conservatoire-based research into string playing, and curated a series of Music and Brain events at the 2010 Aldeburgh Festival.
He is Cello Tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and holds an Honorary Research Fellowship at the RAM as well as an Artistic By-Fellowship at Churchill College.

‘Virtuoso of the arts’ (The Times), Matthew Sharp, is internationally recognised as both a compelling classical artist and a fearless pioneer. His adventures in and through music and across disciplines are ‘unrivalled’ and ‘unprecedented’, balancing provenance and vision in a unique and potent way.

He studied cello with Boris Pergamenschikow in Cologne, voice with Ulla Blom in Stockholm and English at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was taken to Jacqueline du Pré when he was 12, Galina Vishnewskaya when he was 18 and studied chamber music with the Amadeus Quartet. He performs at major venues and festivals worldwide as solo cellist, baritone, actor and director.

Matthew has appeared as solo performer with the RPO, LPO, RLPO, CBSO, Orchestra of Opera North, SCO, EUCO, ESO, Manchester Camerata, Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra X, Arensky Chamber Orchestra, and Ural Philharmonic.

In opera, he has performed principal roles for Opera North, ROH, Almeida Opera and Mahogany Opera Group, amongst many others.

In theatre, he has performed principal roles at the Young Vic and National Theatre Studio, collaborated with Kneehigh, Complicité and, most recently, with legendary illustrator and film-maker, Dave McKean.

He has recorded for Sony, EMI, Decca, Naxos, Somm, NMC, Avie and Whirlwind and appeared in recital as both cellist and singer at Wigmore Hall, SBC and Salle Gaveau.

As a director (music, theatre and opera), he has written, conceived and directed shows for Opera North, BBC, Breakthru Films, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and West Green Opera. His own music and theatre works have toured to major festivals in Europe, India, China and the US, including Glastonbury, Latitude, Wilderness, Mumbai LiveLit, Philadelphia Live Arts and NCPA, Beijing. In addition, he has given over sixty world premieres by composers from all walks of music – including the title role in Sir John Tavener’s The Fool and Errollyn Wallen’s Cello Concerto – at festivals from Sydney to Toronto, Sao Paulo to Delhi.

http://www.matthewsharp.net

Gabriel Levin was born in France and grew up in the United States and Israel. Errant is his sixth collection of poetry. He has translated from the Hebrew, Arabic, and French and has published a collection of essays, The Dune’s Twisted Edge: Travels in the Levant. He lives in Jerusalem.

Simon Speare was born and brought up in Cornwall. He studied composition with Simon Holt at City University, London. His music has been widely performed by professional and amateur performers in the UK and abroad and broadcast on national radio and television. Head of Composition and Contemporary Music at the Royal College of Music Junior Department, he also teaches composition at The Purcell School. His students have won many national and international awards (including this year’s BBC Proms Inspire competition), and a number of his students have developed successful careers as composers. He has lectured and examined at Universities and Conservatoires and is an experienced leader of workshops, devising and leading education projects in schools for leading orchestras and education authorities. He was a lead composer on the award winning SPNM Sound Inventors project and has recently helped to develop the Go Compose project for Sound and Music, both aimed at pre-university aged composers. He was Composer in Association with London Concert Choir and Composer in Residence at the Centre for Young Musicians, London. He is currently collaborating with the author Tony Bradman on a music-theatre piece for children. He has devised and presented a contemporary music show on Resonance FM and been a judge for the British Composer Awards. Married with a son and daughter, he has often dabbled in rock and pop music and lives in East London.

http://www.simonspeare.co.uk

We are two mums from Kent, Fiona Sharp and Louise Knight, with five children between us.

We are both full-time mums and share a passion for live music. We noticed that there was little or no local provision for children to experience high-quality live music at a time of day and in an environment suitable for little ones. So in September 2015 we decided to set up a series of classical concerts called The Wheels on Debussy, specifically designed for little ones and their carers.

The Wheels on Debussy provides a high quality classical music experience for children and their carers in a relaxed environment. We do not expect the young children to sit still. We welcome them to crawl about, dance and singalong to the music.

Concerts are performed by a different musician and instrument each month, providing a diverse musical experience at every event. The musicians are internationally acclaimed soloists who travel throughout the world performing, teaching and educating.

James Pearson is one of the country’s most respected musicians. His work covers all genres of music, especially contemporary music, jazz and classical. He graduated from the Guildhall School, having completed his degree and the Advanced Solo Studies Course. Whilst at college he studied with Robert Saxton, Francis Shaw, Peter Bithell and James Gibb.

James has broadcast on all the major radio and television networks. Classic FM broadcast his concert of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano concerto, and BBC Radio 2 broadcast his performance of the Gershwin Piano Concerto and Rhapsody in Blue. He was the pianist in the Steve Martland Band. His work as a Jazz musician has taken him all over the world. Earlier this year, the James Pearson Trio was invited to play a four night run at New York’s Birland Jazz Club. His fine piano playing and arrangements can be heard on over 50 albums.

Amongst the many artists James has worked with are Dame Cleo Laine, Maria Ewing, Marian Montgomery, Petula Clark, Kevin Spacey, John Wilson, Elvin Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, Buddy Greco, Johnny Griffin, Joseph Horowitz, Richard Rodney Bennett, Ray Davies, Jeff Beck and Paul McCartney.

He is the Artistic Director of Ronnie Scott’s, London.

http://www.jamespearsonmusic.com